Homeless at Christmas - An Investigation

17-12-2010 07:57AM

Fittle wrote: »

But what about opening up a conversation with him...asking him why he was homeless etc?? I thought priests were all about compassion and understanding. It was like 'Here's 20euro, now get out of here'. The priest didn't actually say that, but it was very obviously, what he meant.

As much as I hate defending priests, they probably get a lot of homeless people out there approaching them. It must be hard to feign interest and €20 is a lot of money. I remember when I was in New York for a stagnight, two homeless guys approached us asking for money for food. One of the guys suggested that instead of giving you money for food, I'll go with you to a pizza place and buy you some. The first one goes with them but the second one just walks off, it was evident he wasn't interested in food.

Fittle · 17-12-2010 08:06AM

With respect, the priest obviously got that money from the collection plate, not from his own pocket, so 20euro wasn't a huge amount to give him at all! Look, I'm not anti-priests - far from it, I just thought his attitude towards Jerome was appalling. Christianity??? He got more compassion from the pharmacist than the priest.
I agree that there are alot of beggars who only want money for drugs or drink, and I think we're all reluctant to give to them....for obvious reasons. Having said that, as someone else said, I pass a few lads by on my way to work this morning, and I'll defo be throwing the odd euro here or there.

philstar · 17-12-2010 10:10AM

Overall i really taught it was a piss poor documentary, like something a first year media student would put together over a weekend.

You got no real sense of how wretched and dangerous life on the streets can be...and for him to say that there is always "hope" was the final straw for me..try telling that to a person living homeless for years un end.

eoin1981 · 17-12-2010 10:15AM

why did he describe salamanca as a cheap middle of the road restaurant when it can actually be quite expensive. And if the director/camera man went in afterwards and got a table for 6 why didn't they show that on the documentary?
awful film making especially when we see his brand new runners tramping through the puddles on the side of the road to show how terrible it is for him being homeless. You could've walked on the path!

homelessness is a terrible plight and documentarys like this do not help it.

hardCopy · 17-12-2010 11:53AM

Fittle wrote: »

With respect, the priest obviously got that money from the collection plate, not from his own pocket, so 20euro wasn't a huge amount to give him at all! Look, I'm not anti-priests - far from it, I just thought his attitude towards Jerome was appalling. Christianity??? He got more compassion from the pharmacist than the priest.
I agree that there are alot of beggars who only want money for drugs or drink, and I think we're all reluctant to give to them....for obvious reasons. Having said that, as someone else said, I pass a few lads by on my way to work this morning, and I'll defo be throwing the odd euro here or there.

I haven't seen the film, but what makes you think it came from the plate, was it filmed in the church?

I would say €20 is a lot by the way, enough to get a hostel bed for the night.

M.J.M.C · 17-12-2010 11:58AM

I'd like to just say,

Fair play to Jerome Hughes for doing this. It must have been so hard to go through all that.

Thanks for doing it

JP Liz V1 · 17-12-2010 12:08PM

He didnt look like any homeless person I've seen :rolleyes:

Unwilling · 17-12-2010 12:20PM

I watched it - I thought it was a good concept but don't think it was concept was acted out very well.............

Tea and a scone?

I think he should have done it for about a week or two and really experienced it.

He said there was "hope" but I think if you were STUCK in a homeless situation for any length of time your "hope" would dwindle rapidly... self esteem, confidence, etc. It's not a coincidence that many of them are on drugs and booze - ESCAPISM... even the lads in the hostel said if he took a dash of the liquid hash he'd not remember the night.

Negative remarks about the priest - I did think he was slightly off handish with him - but he had to be. If he was to show fluffly compasion to every homeless person who came in off the streets.... it's never ending.

What I did notice from the helplines and the few people who showed concern and compasion - it was always a short term interim solution.

I am fortunate enough in my circumstances which means I am green on this issue - but what support structure is there to get these people OFF the streets, and not just for one night in a hostel where you have to wear shoes to the bog for fear of stabbing your foot on a dirty needle.
Particularly for someone in his circumstances "recently homeless" - someone not too far gone that his esteem is in his boots.

It seems wrong to me - when so many are on the social in lovely houses, weekly social income, 2 cars, holidays etc. ( I KNOW not everyone on the social has this ... but I KNOW personally of a few who do)
and then you have some people living on the street...

IT IS WRONG

cats.life · 17-12-2010 12:27PM

well i dont see any other reporter from any other station do what jerome done . at the end of it he did look like homeless person. oh and the wan with the pram with blanket come baby. where was that child while she was out in the cold.

sh1tstirrer · 17-12-2010 01:10PM

Fittle wrote: »

Im watching this at the moment.

I have to say I think the priest was an absolute disgrace to his collar (as they all are:rolleyes:). he had little or no interest in the homeless guy, gave him 20euro and sent him on his way. Matt seemed pleased with the amount of money he got but god, the priest showed no compassion whatsoever.

I walk up the quays in dublin every day...and see loads of beggars and I'm always conscious that some will only want money for drugs or drink. I still give to them...but often wonder who I should give to?

The only problem is that all the homeless beggers in Dublin will be queuing outside that church today
thanks to Hughes who should stick to tv3 news :rolleyes:

sharb · 17-12-2010 02:19PM

philstar wrote: »

Overall i really taught it was a piss poor documentary, like something a first year media student would put together over a weekend.

You got no real sense of how wretched and dangerous life on the streets can be...and for him to say that there is always "hope" was the final straw for me..try telling that to a person living homeless for years un end.

Totally agree.

I doubt many people living on the streets have hope.

Jerome was able to spend €9 on breakfast, knowing he would be off the streets that night. I doubt many homeless have this luxury. It was an OK effort but I found he ruined it at the end speaking about hope.

DrumSteve · 17-12-2010 02:39PM

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

The only problem is that all the homeless beggers in Dublin will be queuing outside that church today
thanks to Hughes who should stick to tv3 news :rolleyes:

And where would they have watched it?

bamboozle · 17-12-2010 02:46PM

given the interest this is attracting, its worth mentioning that the Dublin Simon Community are doing their annual 24 hour christmas carolathon on Grafton Street from 5pm this evening till tomorrow evening.

sh1tstirrer · 17-12-2010 02:56PM

DrumSteve wrote: »

And where would they have watched it?

I wonder. If you watched the program last night you would have seen them watching tv in the hostel if they were watching it the word would have been spread fairly fast

sunflower27 · 17-12-2010 06:03PM

Watched this last and while for the most part I think it was good, there were a few bits that didnt sit easy with me. I was shocked at the priest's reaction. Yes, he gave him 20e but only after telling him repeatedly and very dismissively it was a one-off. WHy not take a few minutes to speak to the guy? I actually found his attitude truly awful. It was downright RUDE.

And the pub he went into, was that the Bank? Hell, dont they turn away people for wearing trainers? They obviously have a dress code and Jerome was in a filthy shirt carrying a sleeping bag. Had he gone to any other 'old man's' pub in town he'd have been served, but then, that wouldn't make compelling viewing.

Same with the restaurant. Middle of the road? Hardly. It was all white table cloths etc etc. Jerome was filthy.... of course a place like that was going to turn him away... sad but true.

Agree with the poster tht commented on the 9e breakfast. Bloody hell....:eek:

tsttesttest799 · 17-12-2010 10:22PM

I was really disgusted when I saw how the restaurant treated him. You can see it online at http://www.tv3.ie/shows.php?request=specials

Go to 44.02 minutes. The restaurant is Salamanca Trinity Street http://www.salamanca.ie/
To refuse him a table and then offer the table to someone else a few minutes later is disgraceful. I think everyone should ring up the restaurant to complain!:mad:

fryup · 17-12-2010 10:25PM

^^^^^^^^^^^^

someone's got it in for that restaurant.....do you honestly think they would serve a shabby looking guy c'mon get real

menapian · 18-12-2010 10:33AM

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^^

someone's got it in for that restaurant.....do you honestly think they would serve a shabby looking guy c'mon get real

So may issues with this 'documentary'. Skirted over the serious issues. He was 3 days on the streets - how can you really come to grips with homelessness over such a ridiculously short period of time. I had no empathy with Jerome at all. It was clunkily handled. If I was running a business in this economic climate I would have acted the same as The Bank and Salamanca. What else do people expect? That doesn't mean these businesses don't have sympathy for the disadvantaged. He turned his nose up at the accomodation he received. He didn't even stay for breakfast but went and paid nine euro for a fry! Jerome - I hope you are reading this. I acknowledge your intent and I am not taking away from your efforts. But this is an extremely complex issue. To say there is 'hope' is nice and if we were all american we'd be standing up clapping .. but it just isn't that simple.

Acacia · 23-12-2010 11:43PM

johnn wrote: »

tbh I think its fairly hard to end up homeless in this day and age if it wasn't as a result of drugs or crime.

I don't know about that. There was a woman on the programme who was homeless because her husband was a violent alcoholic. That's hardly her fault.

It's amazing how badly some people's lives can go, and not necessarily through drugs/crime. It can just be a slippery slope from one bad situation to another... and with the attitude that everyone on the streets is a drug-using criminal it's probably incredibly hard to break out of the poverty cycle.

johnn wrote: »

Well after watching that documentary on TV3 I don't think anybody can argue that all the homeless vagrants are a nuisance. TV3 were a disgrace acting like the homeless were the victims in this despite showing them as mindless druggies in the hostel using innocent people's donations(who actually work for a living and aren't on the dole's) money to "get their fix" .
.

Just as a side note, I did also enjoy your reference to "innocent" people's money being used to help the homeless, as opposed to people who are "on the dole", as if by simply being on the dole makes a person somehow wrong or guilty. Charming.

guapos · 24-12-2010 09:31AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6-1oo-b3Ds
a documentery made in vancouver about the homeless. your man is a pr**k but he really gets stuck in towards the end

johnn · 24-12-2010 03:45PM

Acacia wrote: »

Just as a side note, I did also enjoy your reference to "innocent" people's money being used to help the homeless, as opposed to people who are "on the dole", as if by simply being on the dole makes a person somehow wrong or guilty. Charming.

Yeah cause dole-scroungers are well know for being generous with donations from their hard-earned 196e :rolleyes: I think most people would agree that a donation is only really worth something if the money has been earned honestly, its like a lotto winner giving away a few grand he hasn't done anything to get.

Acacia · 24-12-2010 04:37PM

johnn wrote: »

Yeah cause dole-scroungers are well know for being generous with donations from their hard-earned 196e :rolleyes: I think most people would agree that a donation is only really worth something if the money has been earned honestly, its like a lotto winner giving away a few grand he hasn't done anything to get.

And what would you know about how people spend their dole? Have you investigated each ''dole-scrounger" individually and found that none of them ever donates anything from their dole? As for the little snipe at it being money not ''hard-earned" or "honest", I think you will find that a lot of people are on the dole nowdays purely from having no other choice, and they're entitled to it. What else are they meant to live on exactly?

In any case, who are you say when a donation is ''really worth something"? What an ignorant and flawed assumption. It's the thought behind the donation that counts surely. I would much rather see a lotto winner donate money to charity than spend it on something pointless like a flashy car or holiday. And it would be more noble to see a person giving something from their 196 euro (some people don't even get that much by the way), than a person with loads of money donating something they can easily afford.

Apologies for derailing the thread, but attitudes like this towards the homeless and unemployed really grate on me.

Qualitymark · 29-12-2010 09:22AM

With all the ghost estates, there's no reason why anyone should be homeless - we should do as they did in France, and house the homeless in these empty apartments and houses.

I rarely give money to homeless people, but if they're near a convenience store I'll sometimes go in and get a sandwich and a cup of soup for them. That and a few courteous sentences of a conversation are more help to a beggar, generally, than cash. Costs around a fiver.

previous user · 29-12-2010 09:44AM

Qualitymark wrote: »

With all the ghost estates, there's no reason why anyone should be homeless - we should do as they did in France, and house the homeless in these empty apartments and houses.

I posed this question to someone recently and they said it wouldn't be fair for a person to work hard to live in a nice house and have someone who didn't, move next door to them, shame to let those houses go to waste but I guess they have a valid point.

Qualitymark · 29-12-2010 10:12AM

previous user wrote: »

I posed this question to someone recently and they said it wouldn't be fair for a person to work hard to live in a nice house and have someone who didn't, move next door to them, shame to let those houses go to waste but I guess they have a valid point.

Not really. I'd be glad to have someone living in a nice house beside me, rather than having the house empty. And nobody's talking about giving the houses away to people. Better to have someone housed and warm and training for work rather than sleeping on the street and getting flu and colds that lead to more serious illnesses, and turning to alcohol to keep warm, and to crime from hopelessness.

Homeless at Christmas - An Investigation

Comments