Gardaí target suspected organised begging in Cork
Gardaí have deployed additional resources to target suspected organised begging in Cork city following a visible increase in the activity on the streets in recent days.
Supt John Quilter, who is responsible for policing in the city, said gardaí have made 144 arrests for begging in the city since the start of the year, compared to 100 arrests for the same offence in the same period last year.
He said the increase in the number of arrests demonstrates the increased Garda focus on this activity.
However, he said the activity, which has re-emerged in recent weeks, appears to involve individuals who have been living locally for some time, rather than an influx of people from abroad, as was the case this time last year.
He made his comments yesterday during a meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee in response to questions from independent councillor Paudie Dineen.
Mr Dineen said he has seen a significant increase in the number of people involved in what appears to be organised begging on city centre streets.
Blankets and cardboard sheets have been placed in various shop doorways, particularly on St Patrick’s St from early morning to guarantee prime begging locations.
Mr Dineen asked gardaí to outline how they planned to crack down on this activity in the run-up to Christmas.
Supt Quilter said gardaí are very conscious of the activity and are managing it.
We are working with Cork City Council and the Cork Business Association on this and we are taking a balanced approach,” he said.
“But the evidence seems to suggest that those involved are more indigenous, and not an influx of people from outside the jurisdiction. The people who are begging are from the area. We are monitoring it, we are managing it, and we have additional resources dedicated to manage it.”
Last year, gardaí arrested 15 people for begging in Cork during a weekend-long operation in November targeting suspected organised begging.
Most of those who were detained at the time were from eastern Europe.
Last week, gardaí in Dublin arrested dozens of people following a three-day operation targeting organised begging. Both uniform and plain clothes garda personnel were involved in the operation which focused on Temple Bar and Grafton St.
Across the operation, 46 people were arrested under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2011 (Begging).
It is expected that they will all appear in the Courts of Criminal Justice early next month.
