Student Life staged a protest against the lack of student accommodation in Limerick and nationwide on Thursday. Clad in pyjamas and dressing gowns, with tents pitched outside the new Student Centre, Student President Síofra Foley led the demonstration.
“There’s not enough beds for students and the price of accommodation off-campus is ridiculous. There’s over half of our students commuting. It’s just not feasible for anyone really if you’re trying to study as well as live.”
Banners with slogans such as “Study at UL? Sleep on a couch” and “Housing crisis: brought to you by the Irish government” hung over the student centre, showing the harsh reality of third level education to hundreds of secondary school students who were here for the university’s first open day of the year.
“I think it’s important to make them aware of what is coming down their line to be honest” Foley explained. “Students are looking at a beautiful new campus to come study and learn at, but they might not have a bed to sleep in, and they might be commuting an hour or two, or even more to get here every day. It’s unfortunate that this is the reality for a lot of students. We have heard of students sleeping in tents and students having to couch surf between their friends. We’ve even heard of people being offered rooms for sex or rooms for minding their children. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
The protest comes just a week after a new 1400 bed student accommodation was approved in Castletroy. Foley said this development was “a step in the right direction” but was “disheartened that it’s private accommodation. We have no control over the private sector and how expensive they can make accommodation, so we really are trying to lobby the government in terms of building purpose-built student accommodation, for students, that are reasonably priced.”
“I know UL are trying their best and we keep advocating and trying to work with them in terms of accommodation in that sense but it’s just a shame that this is the reality for so many people.”
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for UL stated “I don’t have any great detail on plans for a protest, but my limited understanding is that it is not focused on UL. As such UL does not have a comment to make.”
