Nelson (the name is false) went to Ireland three months ago in search of work, following the miracle of the Celtic Tiger. A month after arriving in Dublin, however, he heard that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union were forced to rescue the island. He didn’t understand what was going on, but he didn’t expect it. He is Bosnian and 26 years old. Four months ago, I was proud to be able to go to Dublin.

Nelson expected a prosperous life in Ireland. He never thought he'd be begging on the street. He knew things wouldn't be tender, but he never imagined he'd be asking for money next to the Burger King on Grafton Street in Dublin. In the coldest winter of the last 25 years in Ireland and barefoot. He doesn't tell his family the truth, he tells them he's looking for a job and he sleeps at a friend's house. “Everything has gone too fast.” After

seven hours of begging on the street, he spends the night in the public inn on Pearse Street: “That’s less than $8 a day.” Although the shelters are crowded, seeing homeless people on the street at night is very common in Dublin. Many prefer the street to the hostels, where there are multiple drugs and disturbances in the shelters. The Homeless agency’s November night search found 70 people on the street, 20 more than the same date the previous year. And overall, Dublin’s metropolitan area has only about a million and a half inhabitants. According to this study, the number of homeless Irish people increased by 20% last year compared to 2009. However, the majority are displaced from Bosnia, Romania and Poland. All excited about the economic boom.

This year Ireland broke up. The financial system has failed and the brick bubble has exploded. That’s why 100,000 homes are currently vacant. Many of them even without finishing the work. The situation has led to many paradoxes: with ghost houses everywhere, in the capital of the island about 70 people sleep on the street every day.

The case of the young Bosnian can be seen many times on the streets of Dublin. There are beggars for every five meters. Especially at the side of the ATMs, waiting for the sound of the coins in the cardboard cups to drink coffee. Endless lines can be seen on the banks of the city centre; especially on the lively main streets of Grafton and O’Connell. During the Christmas season, people constantly withdraw money from the cashiers of Bank of Ireland or Allied Irish Bank. And it is precisely the debt of these banks that has caused the crack of the island.


Although the phenomenon of beggars in Dublin is not new, it has increased dramatically in the last year and especially in the last two months. This is what Rocheanne Noble, the South African coordinator of the Light House, which houses the Christian mission in Dublin in the city centre, says: “I’ve seen twenty new faces in our country in the last two months, it’s huge and we’re expecting more and more from now on.” Poverty
has been accompanied by an increase in charity in Ireland. As far as Catholicism is concerned, it is more customary to give alms than in other countries. Aside from beggars, volunteers from Focus Ireland or Simon Communities are on every street asking for money. But these associations cannot address the problem, in the image of Noble. “People help, but it’s not enough. Now, moreover, the crisis has hit everyone. If they don’t have food, how should they give money for the homeless? The government should radically solve the problem, but for now it should give more subsidies to houses that receive beggars.”

The disappearance of the middle class

In fact, the homeless are not the only ones suffering from the financial crisis in Ireland. Those who ask for money on the streets also have a hard future ahead of them. Ireland has a large middle class, a class consolidated with the strengthening of the economy brought about by neoliberalism in the 1990s. And this whole thing will be the one that will suffer the most from the rescue of the banks of pressure. This is what the Dubliner Michael Senell says: “Before the 1990s, our economic situation was really tough. We have managed to live well for the last 20 years, Ireland grew at full speed. That happiness, however, has lasted for us

little.” More than one believes that this middle class has already disappeared. “In the last year unemployment has increased (currently the rate is 14.1%) and we have already eliminated the small luxuries that we have had so far. I sold my car four months ago. Having a car will soon become a luxury,” adds Sean Smith, a 30-year-old Dubliner.

In fact, over the next four years, to pay back the money left by the European Union and the IMF, Ireland will make severe public cuts and big tax increases. It will implement what has been called the austerity plan. Thus, the ransom payment requested at the disposal of international organizations will cost Ireland dearly. To begin with, to reach EUR 85 billion, the Irish Parliament (Dáil Éireann) has cut its 2011 budgets by EUR 6 billion. Above all, these measures will penalize social welfare, as the subsidies received by families and the unemployed will be reduced by about 5%. Due to unemployment and rising costs of living, an estimated 100,000 Irish are expected to emigrate over the next four years. In total, the Republic of Ireland has a population of only four and a half million.

Although there have not been many prestigious mobilizations so far, voices against the rescue are increasingly being heard. In the coming months, we will see if the situation is reversed or not. Experts and politicians find it difficult to turn the tortilla around, but the key lies in the elections to be held before St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).

Numerous polls are being released in recent weeks and, as they are concluding, the two men who have represented the bailout of the banks, Prime Minister Brian Cowen and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, will be severely punished by the electorate. The government formed by Fiannna Fáil and the Green Party is only a few months away from the end and Labour has all the tickets to lead the next government. The possibility for Labour to form a coalition with Sinn Feinn and the independents is also on the table. Whatever it is, the focus of the electoral canapain will be to have the opportunity to renegotiate the financial rescue.