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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.

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whisky_galore

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

Good luck with that.

Thriving off the Irish soft touches.

[Deleted User]

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.

[Deleted User]

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.

[Deleted User]

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

Why do you assume the Roma are Romanian?

[Deleted User]

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 .

[Deleted User]

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.

[Deleted User]

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.

[Deleted User]

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.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759473#Comment_117759473

It's not just the Roma people that Dublin has a problem with, though.

There is a general flouting of the rules when it comes to immigration. The Brazilian population, has grown enormously. I personally know four Brazilians living in Dublin working and deliberately flouting their visa conditions. The situation has gotten out of control.

The same with the Roma population.

What is it with this country having such a relaxed approach to immigration rules? Laws are laws, and must be obeyed - no matter what the nationality happens to be.

There could be tens of thousands of illegal migrants throughout this country. The figure could be higher, for all we know. This is deeply unfair to the legal migrants that try to follow the rules and ensure they make it to this country.

The Roma people must be deported immediately if they have been found to have ignored requests to search for employment.

Legal Roma, who are working, are more than welcome to stay in our country.

Esel

De're crimmigrants, Joe, coming over heah an' takin' eer tapping jobs, Joe.

[Deleted User]

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

I know quiet a few. Have you a point to make?

katiek102010

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

The English Roma are not integrated.

I worked as a liason officer and English Gypsies, Roma, Irish Travellers and Travelling Showpeople all identify as distinct separate ethnicities.

[Deleted User]

I used to volunteer once a week with a homeless charity in Dublin. We'd get a load of clothing together about 10pm (mainly underwear and gloves), blankets etc for them, and go round with two little wagons pulling them along and giving them to homeless people. They'd get a cup of tea, a sandwich, and a chocolate bar. All paid for by private donations from private citizens (like €5 a time from grannies). The charity would do this every day, with most volunteers taking a single evening each week.

Around the autumn of 2019, the Roma started to descend on us when we were setting up. They'd snaffle up (steal, basically) the clothing and the sandwiches that were meant for the homeless of Dublin.

I stopped volunteering with the charity just before Christmas 2019, and I don't think it's operating any more.

I wonder how many similar stories there are out there of these people abusing things like this to such an extent that they stop operating.

We all know what the response would have been if they'd been stopped. People who were out trying to help the poor and needy would have been denounced as racists.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058204083/dublins-homeless-roma

Wum.

riclad

I think any person in the EU can travel to Ireland if they wish , whether they can apply for housing is another story , there soip kitchens every day at 6 or 8pm, I, d say maybe 10 to 5 per cent are non Irish , eg born outside Ireland the government brought in laws to stop random immigrants, eg if a woman comes here pregnant and has a child she is not guaranteed Irish citizenship

There's fake marriages going on, eg someone marrys an Irish person to get citizenship they get paid a few grand to do so

Why did uk brexit happen , because some people thought the British economy was being taken over by EU immigrants and controlled by eu regulations

Not all the roma are homeless some go to soup kitchens because its free they all have at least 2 children

Jackben75

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

Actually Turkey has the highest population by some margin then Romania and Bulgaria, they are actually more or less persecuted in these countries to the point where if 1 would be murdered the police just write it off. Somewhat strange folk in general with a complete lack of drive to work and begging is the preference but also involved in serious crime. Usually cordoned off in the latter countries - have their own towns, mostly stick to them too for the most part.

whomitconcerns

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

How do you know that? Could be Hungarian, Bulgarian, or even German

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117760970#Comment_117760970

Deport them, irrespective of what nationality they have (unless they have secured paid employment).

Foreign gypsies are the responsibility of the home country, not the country to which they have immigrated.