Ten years on from the introduction of a byelaw to stop "aggressive" begging on Mill Street in Monaghan Town, a local councillor says it has worked well. Councillor David Maxwell told the Joe Finnegan Show earlier how the local authority came together to have a byelaw put in place specifically for the street where the town's main post office is located.
Previously, councillors had been receiving reports of ticket sellers and beggars aggressively targeting people as they left the post office, particularly older people on pension day. Although it took around a year to have the byelaw put in action, Cllr Maxwell said the wait was worth it because gardaí were then enabled to police the situation and the money collectors moved on. Some local callers to the show reported seeing begging in other parts of Monaghan town recently. One listener reported a lady being intimidated when she was followed by man asking for money on her way into Monaghan shopping centre.
Cllr Maxwell said he knew of people with guitars collecting money in that area, too. "This is where it gets into a grey area," he said, "If a person has their guitar are we going to say 'you can't be doing that?' As someone might say 'they don't really play it that well' but, that's not for us to determine. Look, it does happen, I've seen it myself but, I don't see that as aggressive begging." According to one legal website, "local authorities may make a bye-law where in its opinion is desirable in the interest of common good that any activity should be regulated or controlled by bye-law or that a nuisance shall be suppressed."
