Begging in Dublin Epedemic? **MOD NOTE, post #3**

would homelessness and heroin abuse not be more of an epidemic than begging?

hurler32 wrote: »

Have stayed a night or two in Dublin some weeks for past while...but have to sat begging is getting out of control
Have stayed in camden court, walk from there down camden street theres a beggar every 50 yards, if you pass by they throw a smart..you have a nice day bud as if its your fault there begging...went into carmelite church on Aungier street and see beggars terrorising old ladies leaving the church forcing them to give them money...
light a cigarette and you have bums from all corners looking for a smoke & 2 Euro for the bus??
Turning the place into a kip as this carry on.

There a four hostels relatively close to the Camden court , that might most likely account for the amount of people begging.

Makes a change from seagulls.

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Makes a change from seagulls.

Chance of a seagull pooping on you is fairly low. Chance of a professional beggar asking you for money is very high.

The new trend I've seen in the last few months is beggars coming on commuter trains during the off peak hours and leaving packs of tissues on your seat with a little note and then coming back in a few minutes in the hope you'll buy the tissues? While it's not quite aggressive begging, it's still annoying. Also why tissues??

Work around the Talbot street & Store street area for the past 10 years, Dublin man.

Begging from junkies/drunks and non junkies/drunks is an all day everyday thing. And the aggression is unreal. Don't give a crap what people say on here, Dublin has a major begging problem and the worst is of it is right outside Store St Garda station, where there are never any Garda.

As for the tissues on the train, that's a Gipsy thing, on trains all the time in Spain. You either give them 50cent for the little pack of tissues or you don't. It's annoying but nothing like the zombies roaming the streets of Dublin.

geecee wrote: »

I was just going to mention Talbot st.
Every 2nd time I pass the area outside Supervalu and the Irish independent offices I observe some kind of junkie row

Between Supervalu and the spire you can expect to be aggressively stopped at least 3-4 times by beggars and junkies

Walked that stretch today. Wasn't stopped (aggressively or non-aggresively) by any beggars or junkies.

Actually walked from Parnell Street to the IFSC and was surprised how few people I saw begging in the context of having read this thread earlier in the day.

That's not to say there was none but terms like constant harassment don't represent my experiences of town. And I'd be in town 6-7 days a week

TheQuietFella wrote: »

I wouldn't agree with you! In my opinion there is constant harassment going about your daily business and the greatest nuisance is not only from the usual suspects but also the constant harassment from Amnesty Int'

There should be laws against these groups!

Its hardly harassment. A beggar asks for money, you smile and either say no or just keep walking. Where is the harassment.
I am in Dublin most days and that is how it goes.
Also the Amnesty Int' ask if you have a minute, you say no and keep walking!

I just keep walking and ignore them. If I am waiting for a bus and someone comes over, I just say no. The odd time I will give money to someone if I feel like it but as an earlier poster said I really just enabling the problem to continue. The worry I would have in the Guards doing more to stop begging is that it will result in these people getting desperate and resorting to violent crime.

2Mad2BeMad - I reckon he was a spoofer, I will be honest so many of them are. Addiction is a horrible disease.

I worked on Abbey Street for 5 years and oconnell Street for 8 years. Same people begging. Bussed in with babies being switched round. Funnily enough never asked me, in fact one said to another 'she's one of ours'. I assume because I worked round there. In fact I dropped my purse one day and a guy ran after me to return it.

I don't like begging at atms. Rather intimidating. The worst however though I was walking back from lawyers in docklands and that was scary.

I was in Limerick last week and a five minute walk from restaurant to hotel passed six beggars.

In Brussels airport in the bar they do the leave stuff on your table. At the Navenby Road also sell air fresheners.

It's definitely not a epidemic, I can safely say that I gave a few quid to one beggar last night and didn't catch anything.

Dublin is no different to any other city I've visited.

ongarboy wrote: »

The new trend I've seen in the last few months is beggars coming on commuter trains during the off peak hours and leaving packs of tissues on your seat with a little note and then coming back in a few minutes in the hope you'll buy the tissues? While it's not quite aggressive begging, it's still annoying. Also why tissues??

It's nothing new, it's been happening for the last 25 or so years all over Europe; Some of them recite a script that is always the same - "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I'm just a normal, honest guy who lost his job last year, I have a 4 years old son...". Used to hear this every single morning when I used the underground in Naples and Rome. I went on a trip to Barcelona, get on the underground, fella leaves his tissue packet on the window next to me and what would you know, he too was an "honest normal guy" who "lost his job last year" and had a "4 years old son" to feed...

Guy Sajer wrote: »

I don't know if you are putting gypsies selling items in the same bracket as begging but having been 6 times to Venice and twice to Milan and once in Rome I didn't see one beggar in all of them.

Sorry, I'm from Italy, lived in various cities there and especially in Rome; The "touristy" areas are patrolled by the Police and Carabinieri, so you'll get the occasional seller but not much more; Stations, bus stops and anywhere outside the "famous places", but where there's still significant daily crowding, it's chock a block with people asking for money. Saw the same in Milan, Naples, Florence, Barcelona, London, Frankfurt and so on.

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

...
Have to wonder if he was telling the truth about his story
if he was bull****ting I'd have to say hes the biggest scum I've come accross

Sometimes you get the doubt; I've told this story already - a few years ago I was walking home after taking a walk in Phoenix park. I wasn't far away from Heuston station, when I ran into this guy, mid'30s, well dressed, standing in front of a parked BMW 3-Series; He approaches me explaining he locked his keys and wallet in the car, the BMW in front of us, and if I could lend him a "tenner" for a cab, so he could go get the spare keys. I actually didn't have any money on me, but I'm not sure what I would have done if I had the "tenner". He was probably taking the p1ss, as I know other people who had the same experience - but I wonder what would have happened if I said "let' hail a cab, I'll come with you so you can give the 10 euro back when you ulock your wallet from the car"

jonnny68 wrote: »

Roma gypsies are a curse, they have "patches" in Merrion Square, Baggot Street and Nassua street i work around the area and see them every day, pretending to be homeless but they work in shifts and can often be seen collected in cars at the end of their "shift" the garda of course do nothing they just couldnt be bothered, all this while there are so many genuine homeless on iur streets, it disgusts me

Not really their fault. Blame the High Court.

From April 2013: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/high-court-ruling-helps-put-beggars-back-on-our-streets-29210883.html