MORE THAN 500 beggars have been arrested in Dublin city centre since the new “aggressive begging” legislation was introduced last February.
The new laws brought to an end a three-year hiatus during which there was no legislation to deal with begging and the problem became “endemic” in the capital, according to a Garda report prepared for city and county councillors.
Insp Patrick McMenamin of Pearse Street Garda station told councillors on the Dublin Regional Authority last month that 540 beggars have been arrested and 110 cases have been processed by the District Court since February.
Almost two-thirds of arrested beggars are “foreign nationals”, mostly Roma Gypsies, for whom begging was part of their culture and seen as a legitimate way of making a living, Insp McMenamin said.
“For us to try to change that culture here would be like trying to change people in Dublin from drinking Guinness; it’s their culture and they do not see anything wrong with it.”
The 1847 Vagrancy Act, under which begging was an offence, was declared unconstitutional by the High Court in December 2007, leaving gardaí with no powers to control begging.
“It’s fair to say that in the three years up to February of this year begging really took off in Dublin,” Insp McMenamin said.
He stressed that the new laws did not criminalise begging, but did make it illegal in circumstances where it was accompanied by aggression or intimidation, which included deterring people from using a facility such as a bank cash dispenser or a vending machine.
The legislation, the Criminal Justice Public Order Act 2011, also made “organised begging” or living off the proceeds of begging by another person illegal.
An investigation into organised begging, established since the introduction of the legislation, has resulted in six arrests.
All of those arrested were from the same extended family of Roma Gypsies, Insp McMenamin said.
To date about €7,000 has been seized as part of the investigation.
A large proportion of this money was confiscated following raids on a bus which leaves Dublin each Saturday for Romania.
During one raid in July, the bus was stopped in Dublin Port and a “barefoot beggar” who operates on Grafton Street in Dublin city centre and who is known to gardaí was found to be carrying €1,800 in €50 notes.
“While he may look pretty sad on Grafton Street, I can assure you that he is manipulating people who are giving him the money.”
People who were genuinely moved by the man’s plight had been known to buy footwear for him in sports shops on Grafton Street, Insp McMenamin said.
“It’s known to ourselves that people will go in and buy him runners.
“He has more runners I think than the Foot Locker at this stage.”
