Is it legal to beg ?

No chance this thread is simply an opportunity for some to target "bloody immigrants" yet again?
Did someone refer to Roma gypsies as 'bloody immigrants' in this thread?

This thread obviously is targeting Roma gypsies (and not immigrants in general). We recently had a thread targetting 'Bloody shop assistants'.
 
Funny - the vast majority of street and (less so these days) door to door beggars that I have come across are Irish. No chance this thread is simply an opportunity for some to target "bloody immigrants" yet again?



I have no problem personally with deporting people who break the law consistently without remorse or guilt if we are lucky enough for them to not be indigeneous with rights to be here. That behaviour doesnt make us racist . It just makes us clever.
This is a anti-begging thread , not a anti immigration thread. Immigrants are welcome enough and the vast majority of them are hard working and loved for it. But I dont think the Irish public or any hard working society anywhere welcomes begging immigrants or immigrants who dont wish to contribute to society. But being smart shouldnt be confused with being racist as its not a black and white situation. Real life is a grey area.Just my opinion.
 
Originally Posted by truthseeker http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=563367#post563367
When the smoking ban first came in I was regularly harrassed outside Cafe En Seine on Dawson street by gypsies begging


Funny - the vast majority of street and (less so these days) door to door beggars that I have come across are Irish. No chance this thread is simply an opportunity for some to target "bloody immigrants" yet again?

I did not make any reference to nationality in this quote - Ive no idea what nationality the people were, I used 'gypsies' in the context of :One inclined to a nomadic, unconventional way of life.
 
Funny - the vast majority of street and (less so these days) door to door beggars that I have come across are Irish. No chance this thread is simply an opportunity for some to target "bloody immigrants" yet again?

This is a thread about beggars, not immigrants. Just because a minority sub-set of beggars are immigrants, doesnt mean that people are not allowed to talk about the subject. I agree with you that there are a lot of Irish beggars.

Here's an interesting true story - I personally know the guy who actually did this, it is not one of those urban myth friend of a friend stories.

And to give you some background, this friend worked as a volunteer with homeless charities, so its not someone taking the... He did this for genuine research reasons.
His view on homeless, based on having done the soup runs etc. for years, was that most of them are using the begging money for alcohol or drug addiction.

He volunteered to beg on O'Connell bridge in Dublin for a week - working the equivalent of a normal working hours of 40 hours Monday to Friday. He collected in excess of €1,000 during this week. The hourly collection rate was actually much higher on average as a couple of times during the week he was "moved on" by Gardai and lost a few hours collection time and another couple of times he got hastle from regular beggars about him being "on their patch". He didnt do anything special. Just sat on the footpath wearing an old coat with his head down and holding out a cup. Didnt interact with passers by.

Was an interesting eye opener of a study - €1k per week tax free.
 

Interesting story - this thread started out talking about beggars 'actively' soliciting people for money outside a place of business. I wonder how much money would be made in those circumstances. Its much easier to walk past someone with head down holding out a cup than it is to escape someone in your face while you try to enjoy a cup of coffee sitting outside.
 
Recently I was in malahide with my mother. as we were looking in a shop window we were approached by a lady of about 55 who asked us for "the price of a lunch". we tried ignoring her but she was very persistent & started pulling my mother's arm.

My mother asked her why she was asking us for money, why doesn't she have a job.. Beggar says she can't work she's on disability benefit.

Quick as a flash my mother says " well I'm an old age pensioner on a non contributory pension so you receive more money than me - could you give me the price of a lunch??" !!
 

 
The Roma women begging on O'Connell Street and surroundings make me uncomfortable, as my partner and I have often seen men collecting their money from the women and hovering nearby. We've got the impression that they are the women's 'pimps' (for want of a better word) - I know we might have the wrong end of the stick but it upsets me nonetheless.
 
I passed today a Irish lad who begs outside the Irish Permanent in Stephens Green. Normally he pretends to be weak , shivering ,small, hungry , cold etc , like a naughty child in school who gives innocent eyes to teacher when disciplined. When misguided people , tourists etc give him money and try to chat with them he puts on a cough and acts like he cant talk and is on drugs (which I doubt now). I have walked past him on the way to Donnybrook every day for the last few years now.

However today he was fighting over 'begging territory' with a Roma gypsy beggar who is lately using a wheelchair as a prop. I was surprised his cough had gone away , his 'weak' ness turned out to be a sham. Hes stronger than most people in my opinion. He walked out of the local spar with a sandwich and coffee, tall and strong and turned the gypsy in the wheelchair over and the gypsy stood up and didnt need it at all. 2 actors in a strange play and I the audience. I never saw him before when he wasnt sitting on the ground pretending to be weak. Today was an interesting day. I guess some peope have no shame