Aggressive begging

Vic_08 · 20-08-2016 10:46AM

Zxclnic wrote: »

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.

She won't but the heads of the Roma crime families that get most of your money will have the Romanian equivalent of a Dalkey mansion.

For the most part they aren't homeless, they are career beggars and it is all organised by the family/gang leaders. Odds are she will end the day being picked up in a gangster style car and taken home at the end of the begging shift.

No doubt it isn't exactly a great way to live but you are doing no good to them or anyone else by giving them money.

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 10:54AM

Vic_08 wrote: »

She won't but the heads of the Roma crime families that get most of your money will have the Romanian equivalent of a Dalkey mansion.

For the most part they aren't homeless, they are career beggars and it is all organised by the family/gang leaders. Odds are she will end the day being picked up in a gangster style car and taken home at the end of the begging shift.

No doubt it isn't exactly a great way to live but you are doing no good to them or anyone else by giving them money.

You'll have to take my word for it, but I have actually seen her go into Tesco and buy 'Hot Chicken Thingies' from the deli, take them outside, resume her position and eat the damn things.
Next time she does that I'm ringing the police.

Vic_08 · 20-08-2016 10:59AM

Zxclnic wrote: »

You'll have to take my word for it, but I have actually seen her go into Tesco and buy 'Hot Chicken Thingies' from the deli, take them outside, resume her position and eat the damn things.
Next time she does that I'm ringing the police.

I'm sure the local sergeant will be fascinated to know that a woman has eaten some chicken.

donegaLroad · 20-08-2016 11:01AM

it will all come to an end if we become a cashless society like Denmark are planning to do.

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 11:04AM

Vic_08 wrote: »

I'm sure the local sergeant will be fascinated to know that a woman has eaten some chicken.

Well at least my €2 hasn't gone into the upkeep of her Dalkey mansion, it's gone into her belly!;)

Sam Kade · 20-08-2016 11:06AM

donegaLroad wrote: »

it will all come to an end if we become a cashless society like Denmark are planning to do.

What will the traveling men do then?

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 11:08AM

donegaLroad wrote: »

it will all come to an end if we become a cashless society like Denmark are planning to do.

Goodness me, that'll mean an end to buskers on Grafton Street - Btw, I've seen them being picked-up at the end of the day by their busking crime lords in their Lamborghinis - how will we survive without them?

Wigglepuppy · 20-08-2016 11:13AM

Remember having lunch outdoors off Grafton Street and this well dressed, well fed-looking guy (not at all junkie looking) was going around looking for money off people and when they said no, he got stroppy, saying "Well youz seem to have plenty of money for foo-id!" Yes because buying lunch means being absolutely loaded and the leftover money should be given to him because he's entitled to it and everyone else owes him. :rolleyes:
What an arse. Although he probably wasn't the full bob.

donegaLroad · 20-08-2016 11:14AM

Zxclnic wrote: »

Goodness me, that'll mean an end to buskers on Grafton Street - Btw, I've seen them being picked-up at the end of the day by their busking crime lords in their Lamborghinis - how will we survive without them?

we will have to buy them sandwiches and phone credit, maybe some booze at Christmas.

Captain Chaos · 20-08-2016 11:16AM

donegaLroad wrote: »

it will all come to an end if we become a cashless society like Denmark are planning to do.

I've stopped using cash about 18 months ago. Just debit card (contact less) and leap card for everything.

But the begging in the city centre is unreal. Every single Red line Luas stop from Connolly to St James and Connolly station at the Irish Rail station is very bad for it. "I need money for a ticket" is the common line, I ask them where they are going and they can never tell me.

purplepanda · 20-08-2016 11:26AM

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.

On the ferry from Puttgarden to Rodby ferry last summer the Roma robbed all the tills as well as expensive goods in the ship restaurant & souvenir shops, by force of numbers including kids as decoys to divert staff.

It was easy enough for myself & my son to quickly work out what was happening but the Danish security guards were totally clueless until it was far too late. By then the loot had obviously passed through a few pairs of hands. :pac:

I can't see Copenhagen avoiding the same groups of Roma beggars & thieves that afflict every major European city that I have visited over the last 15 odd years. :rolleyes:

Richard Hillman · 20-08-2016 11:32AM

I was at a bus stop on D'Olier Street. Some scruff kept on repeating "Will you help me, will you help me, will you help me". I ignored him but he repeated it about 10 times until I gave in. I asked what's wrong and he said he is a diabetic and he needs €1 for a diet coke. I told him that diet coke has no sugar, he replied with "eh....I know". I then told him to "f**k off" and away he went.

RobertKK · 20-08-2016 11:44AM

I posted about this before, it happened last month in Dublin, two cases of me being approached by questionable people.
One roughish looking woman asked to use my phone on O'Connell St, I said no she couldn't use it, as if I would hand over my iPhone to a complete stranger.
A couple of hours later I was walking on the Quays near the Jeannie Johnson and this guy came over to me asking for money for his hotel room and saying he was from South Africa, told me the hotel messed up his booking, thinking back he said he had no money as it was stolen, that he went to the Gardai who got him and his invisible girlfriend a room in a hostel. Told me they couldn't stay in the hostel as they had a laptop and other valuables. So I lied and said I had no cash, but stupidly did say I had only my bank card. He wanted me to go to the bank and get money and out and he would repay me on Monday (this was on a Saturday), told him I wouldn't be getting money from the bank. But it was clearly a scam.

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 11:45AM

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I was at a bus stop on D'Olier Street. Some scruff kept on repeating "Will you help me, will you help me, will you help me". I ignored him but he repeated it about 10 times until I gave in. I asked what's wrong and he said he is a diabetic and he needs €1 for a diet coke. I told him that diet coke has no sugar, he replied with "eh....I know". I then told him to "f**k off" and away he went.

I'm not a medical person but I would imagine that a Diet Coke would be far more suitable for a diabetic person than a sugary Coke.
I think you may have misinterpreted his pleas of 'will you help me' as a desperate call for help from someone suffering from a 'diabetic low' for a much-needed sugar hit, whereas he was probably just asking you very assertively if he could by any chance borrow some money for a drink (appropriate to his condition) to slake his considerable thirst.
So you telling him to fùck off was a bit rude really.

timthumbni · 20-08-2016 11:46AM

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I was at a bus stop on D'Olier Street. Some scruff kept on repeating "Will you help me, will you help me, will you help me". I ignored him but he repeated it about 10 times until I gave in. I asked what's wrong and he said he is a diabetic and he needs €1 for a diet coke. I told him that diet coke has no sugar, he replied with "eh....I know". I then told him to "f**k off" and away he went.

Have to not considered that he was just trying to moderate his blood sugar levels by drinking a sugar free beverage. You should have asked him what his blood sugar level was to se if he was faking. :-)

Richard Hillman · 20-08-2016 11:50AM

Zxclnic wrote: »

I'm not a medical person but I would imagine that a Diet Coke would be far more suitable for a diabetic person than a sugary Coke.
I think you may have misinterpreted his pleas of 'will you help me' as a desperate call for help from someone suffering from a 'diabetic low' for a much-needed sugar hit, whereas he was probably just asking you very assertively if he could by any chance borrow some money for a drink (appropriate to his condition) to slake his considerable thirst.
So you telling him to fùck off was a bit rude really.

So basically he was thristy, wanted me to pay for it and it had nothing to do with his made-up diabetes. He can f**k right off.

Zxclnic · 20-08-2016 11:58AM

Richard Hillman wrote: »

So basically he was thristy, wanted me to pay for it and it had nothing to do with his made-up diabetes. He can f**k right off.

No. He may well have been thirsty.... and had diabetes too, they're not mutually exclusive.
His was kind enough to go into some detail as to his reasons for preferring a 'Diet' Coke over a ghastly sugary one.

holy guacamole · 20-08-2016 12:21PM

I can abide them being outside shops, ATMs etc, but I've often seen Roma gypsies waiting outside Catholic churches for the elderly to come out.

It's a bad state of affairs when an old woman or man can't go to mass without being harassed by people. The lowest of the low imo.

Giacomo McGubbin · 20-08-2016 12:23PM

andekwarhola wrote: »

Just part of living in a city.

No, just part of living in a badly policed and managed one

Raging_Ninja · 20-08-2016 12:28PM

A couple of years ago, twice in the space of three days I had people coming up to me asking fr money.

The first guy was in a car with a woman and a young kid, showed me his drivers license and said he had tra bells down from Donegal for a job but the guy had let him down, and he didn't have any money for petrol to get home. Was asking for some cash and my address and he'd post it back to me. Told I only had a fiver to get my lunch (true).

Second guy did pretty mmuch the same thing, pulled out his drivers license and was about to give me his sob story when I said I had no money. This fella got offended and said he wasn't going to a ask for money, so I said "OK, so what do you want then?". He said "no, I don't want your help" and went off.

The thing that bothered me most was asking for my address - back of my head both times I was thinking they know there's nobody there now.

tracey turnblad · 20-08-2016 01:34PM

RobertKK wrote: »

I posted about this before, it happened last month in Dublin, two cases of me being approached by questionable people.
One roughish looking woman asked to use my phone on O'Connell St, I said no she couldn't use it, as if I would hand over my iPhone to a complete stranger.
A couple of hours later I was walking on the Quays near the Jeannie Johnson and this guy came over to me asking for money for his hotel room and saying he was from South Africa, told me the hotel messed up his booking, thinking back he said he had no money as it was stolen, that he went to the Gardai who got him and his invisible girlfriend a room in a hostel. Told me they couldn't stay in the hostel as they had a laptop and other valuables. So I lied and said I had no cash, but stupidly did say I had only my bank card. He wanted me to go to the bank and get money and out and he would repay me on Monday (this was on a Saturday), told him I wouldn't be getting money from the bank. But it was clearly a scam.

The South African guy scam was on Facebook, someone warning about him.
They guy with the Diet Coke if he was diabetic and needed 'help' thirsty in my opinion doesn't need help, he would have needed a Coke or a lucozade to boost his sugar... Thirsty he could have asked for a glass of Tap water.

I hardly ever give beggars money, I don't take my purse out for my own safety. I'd rather buy a sandwich, I don't spend my money on alcohol or drugs so someone else is not going to.

FTA69 · 20-08-2016 10:55PM

Zxclnic wrote: »

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.

The Roma beggars are part of an organised syndicate and pretty much every hour a man will do the rounds and collect the money off them. Many Roma are brought to Ireland specifically for these scams which glean huge amounts of money for the patriarchs involved. Likewise a lot of those Big Issues are robbed off genuine sellers.

You can dismiss my initial post all you want but you're reinforcing my point; you unwittingly contribute to a scam in order to make yourself feel better. You can be sure the Roma woman thinks you're nothing but a f*cking idiot to glean coin off.

learn_more · 21-08-2016 01:32AM

It doesn't matter whose doing the begging all my life when someone comes up to me on the street I complelty blank them; stare in their direction and look through them as if they weren't even there, and say absolutely noting. I have used this technique all my life and and it serves me well.

Those ultra professional beggars that work for barnardos etc I have told them to fu*k off with a big grin on my face a few times, usually if they stand in front of me impeding my path.

dublinman1990 · 21-08-2016 03:08AM

holy guacamole wrote: »

I can abide them being outside shops, ATMs etc, but I've often seen Roma gypsies waiting outside Catholic churches for the elderly to come out.

It's a bad state of affairs when an old woman or man can't go to mass without being harassed by people. The lowest of the low imo.

This. I've seen this happening at two churches myself.

One group of women & children usually beg outside The Friary in Athlone at Mass every single day. The Friary is run by an order of Franciscan monks. My aunt usually brings us to Mass there in the morning when my mam & I are on holidays with her. The others though most recently, who consist of two men, are seen begging outside my local parish during Sunday Mass at The Church of the Guardian Angels in Newtownpark Avenue.

I believe that this practice of begging outside a church, a place of worship for the people who attend them, should be stopped immediately IMO. Any CC in the country should have the authority to stop it at any point because of the belief from the parishioners that they are not genuine people & should be ignored because they are in a way preying on actual real genuine people who attend their religious ceremonies & are deemed to be most vulnerable.

I don't know if the Church is seeing this problem right at hand in front of them. But it should try to give awareness of the issue to their own congregations on how problematic for those who want it to end it completely in their own right through a democratic process. But the current laws surrounding Roma Gypsies in this country are very lax or non existent on how to address the issue compared to real people who are officially classed as homeless.

Zxclnic · 21-08-2016 09:02AM

FTA69 wrote: »

The Roma beggars are part of an organised syndicate and pretty much every hour a man will do the rounds and collect the money off them. Many Roma are brought to Ireland specifically for these scams which glean huge amounts of money for the patriarchs involved. Likewise a lot of those Big Issues are robbed off genuine sellers.

You can dismiss my initial post all you want but you're reinforcing my point; you unwittingly contribute to a scam in order to make yourself feel better. You can be sure the Roma woman thinks you're nothing but a f*cking idiot to glean coin off.

I notice with your vast and extensive knowledge of 'Roma beggars' that you still allow a little latitude with your use of the word 'many' rather than 'all'.
So perhaps you'll allow me to believe that the somewhat elderly Roma woman who fleeces me to the tune of roughly €10 per annum is one of those rare breed of street vendors who sell actual 'genuine hot off the presses' copies of the Big Issue.
Maybe next time I'll put it to her (or perhaps the Guards) that some people believe that the Big Issues she's selling are, in fact, stolen property - or in the complex argot of street-level criminality 'hot' - though I think I can guess her reply: ''Fùcking idiots''!

Teyla Emmagan · 21-08-2016 09:05AM

I was on town on a Saturday night recently and couldn't believe the amount of beggars. Easily twice the amount you'd see in the daytime or on any other night of the week. These are people who think "Saturday night, time for begging" like it's a job. And they were far more aggressive than the usual lot who normally don't even look at you. We had two shoving themselves in our faces within about 30 feet of each other. They're not there the rest of the time because they have somewhere to go i.e. a home. No, I'm not giving you money, you have a home!! The guards should clear them out.

There's a Roma woman on the pedestrian bridge at the IFSC every morning. She has a fold up stool. On Friday it was raining and she had a big waterproof on. I wonder how that works as a begging tactic, looking cosy and comfortable. She must still be making enough though if she's there every day.

Zxclnic · 21-08-2016 09:08AM

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

I was on town on a Saturday night recently and couldn't believe the amount of beggars. Easily twice the amount you'd see in the daytime or on any other night of the week. These are people who think "Saturday night, time for begging" like it's a job. And they were far more aggressive than the usual lot who normally don't even look at you. We had two shoving themselves in our faces within about 30 feet of each other. They're not there the rest of the time because they have somewhere to go i.e. a home. No, I'm not giving you money, you have a home!! The guards should clear them out.

There's a Roma woman on the pedestrian bridge at the IFSC every morning. She has a fold up stool. On Friday it was raining and she had a big waterproof on. I wonder how that works as a begging tactic, looking cosy and comfortable. She must still be making enough though if she's there every day.

But does she look aggressive as in the thread title?:)

Zxclnic · 21-08-2016 09:17AM

holy guacamole wrote: »

I can abide them being outside shops, ATMs etc, but I've often seen Roma gypsies waiting outside Catholic churches for the elderly to come out.

It's a bad state of affairs when an old woman or man can't go to mass without being harassed by people. The lowest of the low imo.

Not sure if they still do it but years ago the punters in mass would have 'collection' plates literally shoved under their noses....aggressive begging or what?

Kivaro · 21-08-2016 11:06AM

holy guacamole wrote: »

I can abide them being outside shops, ATMs etc, but I've often seen Roma gypsies waiting outside Catholic churches for the elderly to come out.

It's a bad state of affairs when an old woman or man can't go to mass without being harassed by people. The lowest of the low imo.

I was at a removal a couple of weeks ago and there was a large crowd at it. A group of Roma were driving by and upon noticing the crowd got out of the car and starting begging from the people at the entrance of the funeral home and along the line. The Guards had to be called to move them along.

There should be laws in place to stop aggressive begging from happening. I don't care if the 'beggars' are Roma or Irish.

howamidifferent · 21-08-2016 11:33AM

Blast them with p1ss?

Aggressive begging

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