TV3 Programme on Organised Begging: A review

Assumptions overturned as reporter finds many Roma families in poverty and squalor in Dublin

A Documentary broadcast on 3 this month found that the assumptions and stereotypes of Roma in Ireland were simply untrue.  The show, which aimed to expose organised aggressive begging in Dublin found no evidence of current organisation of the activity and discovered that, far from living in opulence in rich gangs, many Roma live in appalling housing in the capital.

The programme gave an opportunity to some Roma to speak of their own experiences, and allowed members of some avowed anti-immigration anti-Roma groups to have their say as well.

Diarmuid Doyle, TV Reviewer with the Irish Independent, branded the show ‘a disgrace’.  Read his review here