The ‘pigeon man’ sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin. Photo: www.donalmoloney.comMystery remains as to whether the ‘pigeon man’ sleeping rough on the streets of Dublin is in fact Maltese.
Donal Moloney, an Irish photographer who unwittingly caused much intrigue in Malta on Monday by posting a recording of the man online, visited him again yesterday and asked if he had Maltese connections.
In a recording posted on You Tube, the homeless man, identified as Martin, seemed somewhat flustered when asked about Malta.
When told that some people had remarked that his accent may have come from the Mediterranean, Martin coughed and spluttered.
Mr Moloney then asked him amiably if he had ever spent time in Malta, to which Martin replied: “Malta? We’re talking of Italy?... Yes I have been there actually.”
We are going to keep a close eye on him for the moment
He then continued that he was there when he was “smaller”, aged “five or six”.
Perhaps indicating his height with his hand, he said: “I was all of this height, like”, with the way he used the word ‘like’ fuelling more speculation that he was, in fact, an English-speaking Maltese man with a distinctly Sliema accent.
The first interview with ‘Martin’ was uploaded on broadsheet.ie and flagged on Monday by blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was convinced he was Maltese.
Interest in the clip led to the involvement of the Maltese Embassy in Dublin. An Embassy representative spoke to Mr Moloney yesterday and asked to be kept informed of the situation. “We are going to keep a close eye on him for the moment. I have a direct line to someone at the Embassy should I require some help. Let’s not forget that this man may not be Maltese,” Mr Moloney said.
Martin himself claimed to have been born in Dallas, Texas, and to have lived in Russia, Australia and “towards Canada”.
He said he went to school in America and, when asked if he had heard of prestigious St Edward’s College in Malta, he replied: “No, not recently.”
Unsure of Martin’s state of mind, Mr Moloney cautioned that everything he said should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Mr Moloney’s relationship with Martin began when he took a photo of the bearded man lying on the payment in a camouflage sleeping bag surrounded by pigeons. The picture caused a stir on the online news portal broadsheet.ie.
Martin claimed to be “at least 60” years of age, but Mr Moloney thinks he could be between 45 and 55.
Both Mr Moloney and the Maltese Embassy have advised people if they are in Dublin not to harass Martin with questions about his heritage, as he might become alarmed and change his location so he could not be found.
The story has stirred up memories of Tony Borg, a Maltese man who had spent years living on the streets in England.
Thanks to the help of Times of Malta, Mr Borg was eventually reunited with his family in 1998 before dying of cancer.