Now I remember why I drive everywhere!

BettePorter · 03-03-2015 08:27PM #1

I can't remember the last time I walked the main streets of dundalk without being accosted by some lowlife wanting money for e.g trainfare to go to one of his ( what must be many ) brothers funerals in portadown!

Its so frustrating to see one of these guys from the corner of ur eye crossing the street to stop u on your way. I do the usual 'no sorry ' and keep walking but this particular guy tends to persist until he meets the next person ..... on one occasion a couple stepped out in front of me and he started on them and the guy and him got into a slanging match f'ing each other off up the street.

the town is in a bad enough way without businesses having to contend with this hinderance to ppl visiting their shops cause there's an aggressive beggar hovering.

tonight was a particularly cold night so these guys obviously get some pay off for it to be worth it. who is it that is actually giving to them and what can be done about it?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 03-03-2015 08:38PM

Not much consolation but its the same in any large town - worse in many.
I walk the town regularly and have only encountered something like this once in the last 2 or 3 years.

10green bottles · 03-03-2015 09:56PM

Nowhere is safe,not even the new Tesco,The Lidl behind it,Boyds car park,and the corner at bus station/Tesco LW are hot spots for this kind of activity.I just do what the op does...look straight ahead and keep walking....

BettePorter · 03-03-2015 10:24PM

the lidl behind the new tes is a funny one actually.... there's a guy there who is very well dressed and incredibly polite. stands at the trolleys in the evenings. I think I must be so naive in my thinking ..... why is he begging??? how much could he possibly make that would be worth it and for what exactly??? I expect the stationary beggars I guess. its the ones that accost /follow u that annoy me. ok so ive always seen it in and expect it in the big smoke but its disappointing to not be free to go in to 'handy' without a bodyguard! I think of the visitors to the town and the view it gives. its not rampant..... its a few undesirables that do the damage!

10green bottles · 04-03-2015 02:39AM

The guy who stalks people in the town has 59 previous convictions for various offences yet he has hardly served any jail time.Last year he got 9 months but he was back on the streets within 2 months!the judge should have made a court order that he got treatment while he was in custody and maybe he did but as i said he was back on the streets in no time and prob never got a chance to start anything.
Lidl guy is ok,but he has serious drug and alcohol addiction problems.if you give him a euro he'll go straight inside the store and buy a can of beer.If he gets €10 he'll buy a bag of heroin..He's from a real old stock very decent dundalk family but his life has been blighted due to his addictions.His family are supportive of him and have tried to get him help but he's addicted.
Who can you blame for this?What can we do to help? I honestly dont know the answers to those questions but i wish i did

Nesta99 · 04-03-2015 01:37PM

10green bottles wrote: »

What can we do to help? I honestly dont know the answers to those questions but i wish i did

These people are a nuisance but lets not lose the fact that they are essentially ill. Im not one for being overly PC about things and demanding sympathy or consideration for these people but a little empathy maybe as there are no shortage of average folk who end in this type of predicament and a good example is given by 10gb regarding the chap at Aldi. Actually my parents stopped shopping there as while being polite and all its hard to refuse the trolly euro.
This is actually the most considered advice given by charities like Simon, SVP etc - not to give money! Buy them a coffee or a sandwich if appropriate. Giving money is doing nobody any favours at all as its feeding the addiction. If there was nobody giving up money there would be less begging as it would be a waste of time so would certainly reduce this 'street' begging. There may of course be a knock on effect in other social issues.

Fr Cusack of the Redemptorists spoke on radio about this subject. He told of people calling to the priory looking for money and on one occaison a chap looking for money for a bus ticket (sound familiar), Fr Cusack didnt give up money but he did put the chap in his car and drove to the bus station to buy a ticket for yer man - he legged it when he realised he was getting the bus ticket rather than the money.

So after this long winded post - a short answer to 10gbs last line us average joe public do absolutely nothing really, then hope that the pros like social services, charities etc can fulfill their roles (and thats a issue in itself).

doncarlos · 09-03-2015 12:44PM

Could we all chip in and hire a bus to collect them all to drop them off in Drogheda?

Nesta99 · 09-03-2015 07:16PM

Would be a plan although by now all Drogheda based family members have probably died a few times over so maybe Portadown!

Joking aside, there was a case in England where a traveller family picked up a significant group of homeless folk around London with promises of work, got them bank accounts with fixed abodes, utility bills etc. then herded them in to a job seekers office so they could apply for benefits and then proceeded to take benefits off these unfortunates to the tune of hundreds of thousands of pounds. The homeless people were either held against their will or driven off hours away. Happened round Essex if I remember.

Now I remember why I drive everywhere!

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