Aggressive begging

Smondie · 19-08-2016 10:44PM #1

I'm just watching the tv3 programme on aggressive begging in Dublin.

One Roma lady who begs outside of a gang gets 420 Euro per week social welfare and still is out begging.

Aggressive begging seems to be organised and the gangs have been filmed handing over thier money to a crime boss at the end of the day.

Another group aggressively beg and were filmed trying to rob the journalists wallet when he refused them cash and went to walk away.

These people are a nuisance. What can be done to tackle the problem?

It has created a fear factor in the city as reported here http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/fear-factor-in-dublin-due-to-aggressive-begging-1.2024357

For Forks Sake · 19-08-2016 10:47PM

Any spare change there boss?

Smondie · 19-08-2016 10:49PM

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Any spare change there boss?

Get out you scrounger :pac:

OldMrBrennan83 · 19-08-2016 10:49PM

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learn_more · 19-08-2016 10:49PM

Is this about the people who work for Bernardos on Grafton Street? You know, the one's you want to wallop ...

Arcade_Tryer · 19-08-2016 10:51PM

Smondie wrote: »

One Roma lady who begs outside of a gang gets 420 Euro per week social welfare and still is out begging.

Well done to her.

That is the kind of drive and entrepreneurial spirit required to drag this country forward after a tough recession. She is showing that she isn't just content to sit back on her payment like a lot of others, but rather is motivated to increase and capitalise on her wealth. Great mentality. More of this please.

wakka12 · 19-08-2016 10:51PM

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Is it really that bad? I just say no sorry and break eye contact . Then get on with my day, yes it happens a lot , usually 3-4 times every time I go to dublin city centre but it doesn't exactly ruin my day. And Ive never met an aggressive beggar, in my 21 years living in Dublin

Smondie · 19-08-2016 10:51PM

learn_more wrote: »

Is this about the people who work for Bernardos on Grafton Street? You know, the one's you want to wallop ...

I don't know but I don't think so. The programme is focused on Roma beggers

Atlantic Dawn · 19-08-2016 10:52PM

Commerical begging is a big business, almost as big as the charity "industry".

Smondie · 19-08-2016 10:52PM

Arcade_Tryer wrote: »

Smondie wrote: »

One Roma lady who begs outside of a gang gets 420 Euro per week social welfare and still is out begging.

Well done to her.

That is the kind of drive and entrepreneurial spirit required to drag this country forward after a tough recession. She is showing that she isn't just content to sit back on her payment like a lot of others, but rather is motivated to increase and capitalise on her wealth. Great mentality. More of this please.

I hope she's declaring her income to both the social welfare and the tax man

andekwarhola · 19-08-2016 11:14PM

Not really a big deal, even in Dublin. Sometimes I give money to beggars (not to Romas) on a fairly random basis (if I have money, not in a complete rush, some factor compels me etc) but if I don't, I just briefly apologise say I'm in rush or have no change etc. If they really try and badly panhandle me, I just tell them to fuck off and there never seems to be any comeback. Just part of living in a city.

Letree · 19-08-2016 11:19PM

I never give anybody anything on the streets. Its just an absolute principal i have. I play in some sport charity events for causes i think are worthy and charities that have a good name.

tracey turnblad · 19-08-2016 11:25PM

I just very loudly say no go away and continue walking. In fairness the reporter wanted them to surround him ( so he could show an example of it) and he told them he would come back and give them all something. I once seen an elderly lady roar **** off at the top of her voice as they tried to get money from her. They used to always be around the Luas stop at the Jervis but seem to have moved on....

Fluffy Cat 88 · 19-08-2016 11:28PM

Keep on walking.

I ain't no Chugger Hugger

Smondie · 19-08-2016 11:31PM

andekwarhola wrote: »

.... Just part of living in a city.

I lived in Copenhagen for years. Never was approached by or seen a begger. I think it's illegal. So not all cities put up with this type of thing.

MilesMorales1 · 19-08-2016 11:58PM

I'm in Dublin city centre every day, rarely do I see beggars on every street corner or at every ATM. If you see them, walk past and ignore them.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 20-08-2016 12:02AM

There's an Irish lady that's always begging on Stephens green and she's the most aggressive out of any other beggar I encounter. She starts shouting at you while you're practically 1/2 way down the street.

Yes, there's lots of Roma beggars, and yes id to be extra careful of my belongings if they approached me, but they've never been aggressive.

Irish Guitarist · 20-08-2016 12:14AM

I once made the mistake of feeling sorry for a Romanian*gypsy who was holding a card saying he needed €10 for him and his child. I handed him all the change I had in my pocket, which was about €3. He complained "that's not enough". I still regret not grabbing the money back out of his hand.
*Awaits someone to quote me and tell me "they're Roma gypsies and they're not from Romania"

S. Goodspeed · 20-08-2016 12:17AM

In the grand scheme of things the Romas are the least of my concern. The lads high on heroin pose a greater danger purely because they can be completely unpredictable when under the influence. Worst of the lot though are the gangs of feral teenage scangers roaming the streets looking for trouble, they literally get away with murder.

Wigglepuppy · 20-08-2016 12:20AM

Patww79 wrote: »

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Maybe you look really rich!

I encounter the odd person begging in Dublin city centre but certainly not harassment at every shop door/ATM. Serious bang of pov off me I'd say. :pac:

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 20-08-2016 12:32AM

S. Goodspeed wrote: »

In the grand scheme of things the Romas are the least of my concern. The lads high on heroin pose a greater danger purely because they can be completely unpredictable when under the influence. Worst of the lot though are the gangs of feral teenage scangers roaming the streets looking for trouble, they literally get away with murder.

Heroin junkies aren't scary. They're like zombies.

tupenny · 20-08-2016 12:58AM

LexieOnRale wrote: »

There's an Irish lady that's always begging on Stephens green and she's the most aggressive out of any other beggar I encounter. She starts shouting at you while you're practically 1/2 way down the street.
ve.

Pretty sure I know her. Big woman roaring and whailing? Dark hair and trackies?
If it's the same 1 she annoys me so much, absolute bully, you see it when elderly walk by

Strong Life in Dublin · 20-08-2016 01:08AM

The begging in Dublin city is terrible, I must get asked for money a minimum of 10 times every time i'm the the city

Heckler · 20-08-2016 01:55AM

LexieOnRale wrote: »

Heroin junkies aren't scary. They're like zombies.

Agree with this. Anytime I've been in Dublin and seen these walking dead shuffle up "annnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyyy ccccccccchaaaange bbbbbbbbud" I've never felt intimidated. Like you could push them over with a finger.

I suppose its the ones hanging for a score and needing the money badly are the ones to be cagey about.

Spent a year or so traveling up to and going out in Dublin at the weekend while my ex-wife was in college. Never had any hassle, never felt intimidated.

I'm from Cork and its the sheer number of people in Dublin that freaked me out. People sitting/standing next to me on public transport having full blown personal phone conversations for everyone to hear everytime I got the bus/luas was weird. Kids playing music without headphones ditto. Would be told to shut the **** up on a Cork bus.

Different vibe but I always liked it. My sister lives there but I think a visit is enough for me.

Grandeeod · 20-08-2016 02:12AM

Smondie wrote: »

I lived in Copenhagen for years. Never was approached by or seen a begger. I think it's illegal. So not all cities put up with this type of thing.

You're right. It's not tolerated in a lot of cities. But hey this is Dublin where we tolerate everything, including getting your fooking head blown off, getting beaten senseless outside a takeway or inside. In fact you can sit inside a nice restaurant and watch the carnage through the window if you want.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k · 20-08-2016 06:51AM

tupenny wrote: »

Pretty sure I know her. Big woman roaring and whailing? Dark hair and trackies?
If it's the same 1 she annoys me so much, absolute bully, you see it when elderly walk by

That's her!!! The very first time I ever encountered her I told her I had no change, sorry and she suggested I use the atm, and like an absolute ****ing idiot, I was so flabbergasted I did. Now every single time I see her I feel like kicking her

YellowLead · 20-08-2016 07:45AM

LexieOnRale wrote: »

That's her!!! The very first time I ever encountered her I told her I had no change, sorry and she suggested I use the atm, and like an absolute ****ing idiot, I was so flabbergasted I did. Now every single time I see her I feel like kicking her

Yep I know the same woman, I've seen her around different parts of the city centre over the last number of years but Stephens Green is her latest haunt. She used to annoy me but now I just feel sorry for her (never give her money though). I am pretty certain she has mental health issues and begging is just part of her daily routine. As for beggers in general, I never give to Romas as I have seen too often ones sitting with crutches who then hop up and walk around unaided or who live in houses. Usually if you see somebody begging and they have their sleeping bag and a backpack with them they are genuinely homeless. If they don't have their worldly possessions with them then that means they do have somewhere to sleep at night and are probably just begging for drug money. I know there could be loads of exceptions to this, but somebody working for a homeless charity told me that once.

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 09:46AM

Letree wrote: »

I never give anybody anything on the streets. Its just an absolute principal i have. I play in some sport charity events for causes i think are worthy and charities that have a good name.

I'm sure you mean well, but do you know (or care) what percentage of the money you raise for 'charities with good names' goes to the actual causes you support, and how much goes into the bank accounts of the professional career charity workers burping on their fine wines and sending their sons and daughters through college with your hard-earned.
When I give - which is not too often as I can't afford it and I'm stingy - I almost always give on the street, cutting out the middle man/woman so to speak, and I don't distinguish between natives, Roma or even Corkonians.
They're all equally deserving of my largesse.

Btw, someone mentioned giving money to a 'Romanian gypsie', she might well have been Romanian, but she also could have been 'Roma', and if so than possibly from a country other than Romania.
A long-winded way of saying Roma/Romanian sometimes the same but not always.

FTA69 · 20-08-2016 10:01AM

Zxclnic wrote: »

I'm sure you mean well, but do you know (or care) what percentage of the money you raise for 'charities with good names' goes to the actual causes you support, and how much goes into the bank accounts of the professional career charity workers burping on their fine wines and sending their sons and daughters through college with your hard-earned.
When I give - which is not too often as I can't afford it and I'm stingy - I almost always give on the street, cutting out the middle man/woman so to speak, and I don't distinguish between natives, Roma or even Corkonians.
They're all equally deserving of my largesse.

Btw, someone mentioned giving money to a 'Romanian gypsie', she might well have been Romanian, but she also could have been 'Roma', and if so than possibly from a country other than Romania.
A long-winded way of saying Roma/Romanian sometimes the same but not always.

If you're giving money to Roma beggars in Cork all you're doing is funding an organised scam. It beggars belief how many people are tacitly ok with that like.

I'm not saying you fit this description, but it's about people making themselves feel better as opposed to genuinely trying to help others and Roma scams prey on that.

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 10:31AM

FTA69 wrote: »

If you're giving money to Roma beggars in Cork all you're doing is funding an organised scam. It beggars belief how many people are tacitly ok with that like.

I'm not saying you fit this description, but it's about people making themselves feel better as opposed to genuinely trying to help others and Roma scams prey on that.

Sometimes there's a Roma 'beggar' outside my local Tesco, betimes as I jauntily stroll by whistling 'Oh what a beautiful morning' I might go completely mad and drop a €2 coin in her hat, she'll then offer me a 'Big Issue' in return which I invariably refuse (feeling good about myself whilst so doing). She always mumbles 'Thank you and God bless' or some such platitude as I go on my merry way..........SCAM complete.....and, of course, she's probably a billionaire with a 10-bedroomed house in Dalkey.

Btw, I was actually talking about a Cork beggar on a Dublin street, yes there is at least one. I gave him €5 last Christmas when I was 'tired and emotional'.
It's a world gone mad I tell you.

RobertKK · 20-08-2016 10:39AM

I gave money to a Roma man after initially ignoring him as I don't give money to people who I believe are fake, as I don't think he needs to beg.
I was at a pay station for the car park, I paid and got my ticket, my mind was elsewhere at the time, next thing I heard him calling me back saying I had left money behind me. I went back got the money I had left behind and I gave him some money too for his honesty and for being a nice person at that moment.

Aggressive begging

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