Dublin's "homeless" Roma

crooked cockney villain

I was passing through town on Friday night and outside the GPO there was a soup kitchen going. Of those queuing up, maybe 50 people, a good 80% were Roma gypsies. They've been in this country since the late 90's but in the last 5 or so years their numbers seem to have exploded. They dominate Moore St, they used to have two dozen or so of their men headquartered at an electric box at the corner of Henry and O'Connell St, but since Bewleys went bankrupt their new HQ is right outside it, every afternoon there is upwards of 100 of them hanging around the top of North King St.

What is the deal with them exactly? Studies have shown they have an unemployment rate north of 90%. Most studies you Google claim there are 5000 of them in the country, tbh I'd be surprised if there isn't 5000 of them alone between the Mater Hospital and Gardiner St, they seem to make up a good one in five inner city residents these days. They seem to live either in old shithole houses in this area or in the rundown hostels/ hotels that the state places homeless people in. Is the state paying for their accomadation? Are these people eligible for homeless hubs, which are a fast track to social housing? EU rules state that an EU migrant must have worked for 3 years in another state before becoming eligible for welfare and housing assistance, yet to the layman's eye it would appear some of this lot are getting assistance regardless. Certainly there are plenty of them living in private rentals in the Blanch area, and given how hard it is for somebody with references to acquire a property, one can only assume a Roma family living in a private rental is living there because the council acquired and guaranteed the property/ rent/ damages on their behalf.

If any of these people are getting housing assistance it is a bigger scandal than the vulture fund bulk buys, but one that absolute spoofers like Eoin O'Broin and Rory Hearne won't touch.

enricoh

We need them to pay our future pensions apparently! In the short term the numerous homeless charities need them to justify their existance.

Jequ0n

That’s why Sarkozy was a legend …

One eyed Jack

By “the layman’s eye”, I’m guessing you mean yours, by which it sounds you’ve already convinced yourself and you’re not actually interested in what the story might be with them at all.

Have you tried asking them yourself? That’s the only reasonable way you’d find out what their deal is, and either you’ll have your suspicions confirmed, or you’ll find out you’re way off the mark.

crooked cockney villain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756723#Comment_117756723

There's a family of them living in a council house round the way from me. Thankfully absolutely everybody who grew up in this area currently lives in affordable rental/ purchased housing a stone's throw from their family and friends, so this is a non issue, eh.

crooked cockney villain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756700#Comment_117756700

I wouldn't give a cent to any charity assisting this lot. Any housing activist who doesn't call this out is an attention seeking waster who couldn't give a shite about the housing crisis.

A simple, near overnight policy that would release a significant amount of properties to the social and rental market- audit migrants who live in social and subsidised private rental. Any who have a less than consistent work history, get the boat. Re allocate their homes to working families at affordable rates of rent.

Not one of the housing loudmouths could give a toss.

Nigzcurran

There is a large Roma family in a house in castleknock, no idea who’s paying for it but it ain’t cheap that’s for sure

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756732#Comment_117756732

I don’t get you?

I made the point that asking them is the only reasonable way you’ll find out what their deal is, and you’re telling me there’s a family of them living round the way from you. Sure go and ask THEM then what their deal is, or start there and then go to Bewleys or wherever and whenever you see them congregating, and just ask them what their deal is.

It’s unlikely any of them are posting here, so you’re unlikely to get an answer to your question that’ll truly satisfy your curiosity and tell you what their deal is. That’s why I’m saying the only people who can tell you that is the people themselves.

jay1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756758#Comment_117756758

Go away outta that with yer sense 😂 OP just wants someone to confirm that they are indeed all spongers who's lives are being subsidised by his hard earned tax money.

crooked cockney villain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756793#Comment_117756793

Studies show a 90% plus unemployment rate. So, yes, that would appear to be the general consensus.

Beechwoodspark

Out of curiosity I suppose, I have tried to engage some of them in conversation over the last 5 years and the main reaction I got was them waving me away speaking in a foreign language, walking away without delay.

and once or twice I got choice bad language via English, which I won’t repeat.

To boot, the only real bad encounter I had was with a Roma woman flogging the “big issue” near easons on o Connell st. She seemed mentally unstable and tried to hit me.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756821#Comment_117756821

That's the problem when using Gript for facts. The study was of 30 households in north county Dublin in 2015.

Is it any different now, I would guess that as another poster said you would have to ask them yourself or find a study done since 2015.

One eyed Jack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756793#Comment_117756793

Tbh I figured the OP was genuinely curious about what their deal is, but having read their subsequent posts, it appears they started this thread only to have yet another pop at “d’immigrants” 🙄

There’s never enough threads for some of people, they want to be special and start their own thread rather than contribute to the many, many threads that make what turns out to be the same point as every other thread already.

Anyways, in this instance it’s a good thing the new site doesn’t auto-subscribe to threads, and chances are I’ll never see this thread again unless I specifically go looking for it 😂

One of them caused me to crash my bike last week, about 200 quid worth of damage and I had to get medically checked out. I told her that she has to pay for the bike repairs and her response was "I'm homeless, I have no job, what do you want me to do". Tried calling the Gardai but they had no interest. She then told me she is in accommodation somewhere in Clontarf. I noticed her kids wearing Nike shoes. So there is money there.

I can't fathom why this is allowed to happen. No contribution is made to society whatsoever by this person, but accommodation and a weekly allowance is given to her. What does the country get for this investment, a pat on the back from Brussels?

Donald Trump

Roma used to come to Ireland and claim asylum back in the day. When the EU expanded in the early 2000's, only Ireland (and maybe the UK) immediately opened up to unrestricted access.

A load of them arrived in and got a shock that, as they were now EU citizens, previously available benefits or routes to benefits were no longer available. (You cannot claim asylum within the EU if you are already an EU citizen). So they ended up on the M50 roundabout for a few weeks. I think they were given transport back home.

If my memory serves me correctly, around the late 2000's there was an epidemic of Roma children begging around Dublin city centre. There were some policies put in plate to try to control this. One, which was not 100% a response to this issue, but it did provide a strong impetus, was making certain benefits dependent on children being in school.

One of them was murdered after being picked up on the street by a well known Dublin psycho from a family of psychos. Many of them have a terrible life and they have little to no prospects. But there isn't really much you can do for them. There are gangs who fly them in, get them to do their dirty work until they are caught and then fly them back out.

And before anyone **** themselves, obviously not all 100% of every single Roma is doing X or Y or Z

Free movement of people within the EU should not mean free movement of gypsies.

I'd deport every last one back to their home countries. It's their responsibility, not ours.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756889#Comment_117756889

You should have been keeping your eyes on the road instead of trying to check out her arse as you were passing. Then you wouldn't have crashed!

Timberrrrrrrr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757007#Comment_117757007

They are Romanian citizens and have the right to travel around the EU, The same as Irish travellers.

jay1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757007#Comment_117757007

Are gypsies different to people?

JP Liz V1

As a nation Ireland is too generous

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757028#Comment_117757028

If you have 90% unemployment rate, that's not acceptable.

You should not be allowed to move to another country to remain unemployed.

If they have lived here and demonstrated no attempt to work or to improve their lives, they should be deported.

mikethecop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756793#Comment_117756793

know any roma who are working and paying towards the tax pot ?

Gary Scrod

Are they still doing the 'tissues on the seat' begging on the DART? That **** was a pain in the hole.

humberklog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757020#Comment_117757020

I find most here are Bulgarian and Slovakian, a lot of Romanian too.

jay1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757213#Comment_117757213

I don't know any Roma personally so i can't really answer that, do you?

mikethecop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757264#Comment_117757264

lol unsurprising

Gary Scrod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757213#Comment_117757213

Is begging classed as working? If so, many may be paying their taxes on their begging earnings.

jay1988

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757275#Comment_117757275

What's unsurprising? that I don't know any Roma? I wouldn't have thought so tbh, nice way to dodge the question with a throwaway comment though, I'll make the assumption you don't know any either so. I'd also like to see where this 90% figure comes from too.

suicide_circus

I spend a lot of time in Dublin city centre and there has certainly been an extraordinary jump in numbers.

The gathering in Moore St started during lockdown when there was very few places open and very few people about.

suicide_circus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757020#Comment_117757020

Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Slovakian mainly. They get short shrift at home so the likes of Ireland is an attractive proposition, generous social supports and soft law enforcement.

Gary Scrod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757353#Comment_117757353

Basically they see Ireland as a soft touch. Another perk of EU membership.

whisky_galore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757283#Comment_117757283

Good luck with that.

Thriving off the Irish soft touches.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757213#Comment_117757213

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757264#Comment_117757264

I think there's one near me... Works in the local chippy... Not gonna ask her if she's a 'Roma' though, or any kind of Gypsy.... 😁 Another chap I see near me gets picked up around 6.30 am, and him with a hi-vis jacket on him, so I can only assume that he's working too. Pretty sure he's a Roma that particular lad.. Doesn't mean that he isn't claiming benefits though, and, regardless, the number of these ethnic minorities that are unemployed would surely be 90%, and that's at a conservative guess... Mostly I just see them walking around town all day.. Oftentimes I see a 'procession' (about 15+) of them strolling about - must be about 3 generations in that particular grouping 😁

What I have noticed though, is that there's any amount of them pretty much living right slap bang in the centre of my local small town.. Doubtless, this is all facilitated by the local "Gypsy and Traveller" branch of the County/Town Council ☹️ I doubt that they're all criminals working for some 'Leader' based in the 'Home Country' , and it's hard to believe that many of these are privately rented houses/apartments, or indeed that any are privately rented at all 😉 Course the Politicians/Councils will deny that these people are getting any kind of 'special preference'..... I reckon those 'so called' apocryphal tales of Africans getting monies towards cars, and 'free buggies' etc from the Welfare Officer are nowhere near as fanciful as many would like to claim.. Something similar going on with the Roma would be odds on methinks..

Can only speculate, as there are all kinds of aids/NGOs/discretionary funds available for and to minorities; and that these aren't exactly 'advertised'.. But every so often, something comes out.

Shouldn't be let into the Country at all imo, but it's too late now to stop the influx... Things are only going to get worser, as they become more emboldened.. Sort of like the Travellers.. They were bad enough before they started getting SW and housing....

mondeo

I wish the owners of local shopping centres would get them away from their front doors. Tired of having a cup waved in my face every time I go to do my grocery shopping. Same fella for 2 or 3 years now sits outside my local grocery shop every day... He is well known. Management walk in and out and say nothing to him like he is their employee or something.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757464#Comment_117757464

It is really up the management of the shops. It is illegal for people to beg within 5m of a shop.

There are two shops near where I work, one always has (multiple) beggars and people collecting for charities outside, it is a 'manager' run Spar and the manager has changed several times over the years. The other shop is family run and they will get rid of any beggar or charity collector within minutes of them settings up. I have see them doing it, it takes nothing more than telling them they are not wanted.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757020#Comment_117757020

Why do you assume the Roma are Romanian?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757587#Comment_117757587

The 'Woke' are obsessed with 'facts' , and 'sources' etc... ; up until the point where those facts don't suit  their agenda 😂 They've no time for 'Stereotypes' either, unless it's one of them innocuous ones, like conservative/family oriented etc... 😉

No doubt if there's some 'statistic' out there (even it's from a source they normally deride 😁) that says the majority of Roma are, indeed 'Romanian' ; then it will be thrown out as though it's Gospel.

archfi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757043#Comment_117757043

Every EU country has the right to make any foreign EU citizen leave their country after 3 months if they have no employment/means of living.

Somehow, I don't think Ireland implements this at all.

Gary Scrod

Are they still living on the M50 roundabout near Ballymun?

Gatling

It shouldn't be happening at all ,the idea of large groups of people essentially from Romania or elsewhere coming here just to receive benefits is wrong ,

Mass deportations should be brought in and strictly enforced ,we take too much of a soft approach to these groups , with every woke snowflakes calling to allow more in as long as they don't get housed near their homes .

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117758020#Comment_117758020

Completely agree.

One of the downsides of freedom of movement within the EU is that it permits the freedom of movement of people that we don't want or need: people with either have no skills or people who have no desire to work, what you could call non-economic migrants.

We should have a far stronger border force, who - like they do in the UK - identify those who should not be in our country and deport them. This includes people who have remained in Ireland beyond their visa, or who have entered this country but have simply refused to find work.

Should they remain homeless? No. We should simply keep them in centres where their status can be processed and, if eligible to be deported, we can legally remove them from the country and send them back to either Romania or Bulgaria, or wherever they were born.

We are far, far too lax; a complete walkover.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117758146#Comment_117758146

There is no ethnic right to remain unemployed, basically.

Foxhound38

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757213#Comment_117757213

Honestly, I know one or two working in construction. Not a lot of people to be sure, and with those people having to support large extended families the extra income doesn't get them very far but they do exist. They are also extremely unlikely to tell coworkers etc that they are Roma.

As to the general discussion on the thread, the ones that are here are generally members of 2 or 3 large families and largely as part of a multinational begging operation operating out of Romania and to a lesser extent Bulgaria. They live in run-down substandard accomodation in large groups and run begging teams in shifts. When enough of them get in trouble with the gardai for one thing or another, they leave for Romania and are swiftly replaced by another group from the same family and up to the same thing - and on it goes.

With that said for the most part they are not claiming any benefits (usually down to lack of knowledge of the system and failure to satisfy habitual residency clauses) and really do live in destitution while here. Most have severe educational deficits, are illiterate and speak basic English if any. Women in particular have little way out of that lifestyle even if they wanted to leave it - they are taken out of school and married off as early as possible, often relocating to where her husband is especially when married off very young.

The fact that they severely restrict their engagement with outsiders means they can't rely on the support of anyone outside their group, which is often also their extended family. This means there is very little chance of individuals in that lifestyle to escape it really.

Are they ever going to integrate? Unlikely. Are they as a community with some exceptions generally taking the piss? Yes. Do they hold their own people back when adhering to this lifestyle? Most definately. However individuals in that life often have few options by the time they are in a position to theoretically make choices - they get by in what way they can, same as everyone else. It doesn't make them our problem but why they do what they do makes a lot more sense when you look at all the factors stacked against them (both by others and by themselves).

Galwayguy35

Lot of them appaeared over this end of the country as well especially in the last few years.

One ould one was always outside Aldi rattling a cup expecting people give her money and bladdering on in her own language as she hadn't a word of English.

Suppose you will always find a few fools who give them money but I wouldn't give a begger a cent even if their life depended on it.

crooked cockney villain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759073#Comment_117759073

The thing is, I'd say you could walk the length and breath of Dublin city centre and find only three or four Roma beggars.

So what are the other few thousand doing for money?

Galwayguy35

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759153#Comment_117759153

Good question because they aren't working anyway.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759159#Comment_117759159

Exactly what I was thinking.

John_Rambo

I had a contact with a Romani recently. Very interesting. Actually amazing from an anthropology point, they originate in India! Their own language still has elements of Hindi in it (if you try and google translate it it can't but it does recognise the elements of Hindi). They don't have a territory or a homeland nor do they claim the right to national sovereignty in any of the lands where they reside.

If you find one that lives in Ireland on Facebook it's a proper insight. You'd swear they don't live in Ireland, their houses interiors are alien, their food, customs, parties, music, get togethers even the way they dress are completely different to what we do.

The retention of their culture is admirable to say the least.

crooked cockney villain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759261#Comment_117759261

I always wonder how the English Romani seem to have integrated to the extent that the vast majority are essentially white, while the continental ones, while certainly mixed with some local populations as the vast majority are lighter than Indians, still look relatively dark.

Even Jews, while they are lighter than they were when they left Israel 2000 years ago, most people from places with large Jewish populations could easily pick them out physically.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759324#Comment_117759324

Very true and interesting. The ones in Ireland are classically Romani looking physically and the way they dress. The ones I had contacted with arrived in Ireland from Slovakia. Serious obsession with wealth, gold, Mercedes Benzes and very very keen to appear wealthy with Gucci clothes and oversized gold jewellery.

MBE220d

When you see the Roma taking over a Dubs stronghold like Moore St, it's not good, the tobacco sellers should hang their heads in shame.