University of Galway students to sleep out in Eyre Square over accommodation crisis

They are calling on the Government and the university to take urgent action to help students.

University of Galway Students’ Union will hold the protest next Tuesday, September 1, calling on both the Government and the university to take urgent action to help students who still have no accommodation confirmed for the new academic year.

Students taking part will meet at the university's Quadrangle at 3.30pm before making their way to Eyre Square where speeches are due to take place at 4pm.

After this, the students will set up camp and spend the night in the city centre.

The Students’ Union says the protest is intended to highlight the difficult circumstances faced by students who have been unable to secure somewhere to live ahead of the new semester.

Students’ Union President, Seán de Búrca, said Galway students are among those worst affected by the housing crisis.

“We have students commuting for up to seven hours a day, paying extortionate rent, sleeping on friends' couches or living in hostels.

“This is the result of years of a lack of Government action. It's not acceptable to expect students to put up with such a dire state of housing.

De Búrca previously told JOE that students were travelling to Galway from as far away as Kerry, while others had been left without a permanent place to stay.

“In a different housing market I think we would see a lot more people coming and saying 'the place I'm living is a kip', but now they're not doing that because they know it beats the alternative of having nowhere to live at all,” he said.

The crisis has also raised concerns around rental scams, with students under pressure to secure accommodation quickly before the academic year begins.

The Students’ Union previously urged students to be particularly careful when dealing with landlords and letting agents, warning that scammers can take deposits from multiple prospective tenants before disappearing.

Students have been advised to view a property before paying a deposit, avoid paying in cash where possible and insist on receiving a receipt for any money handed over.

They have also been encouraged to check that properties have basic necessities and functioning appliances, document any existing damage and get any promised repairs confirmed in writing.

Molly Hickey, Students’ Union Vice President/Welfare and Equality Officer, said the union had been hearing from large numbers of students and their families struggling to find accommodation.

“We are getting hundreds of emails and phone calls every day from students and their families who are desperately seeking housing.

“It's heart breaking to hear the circumstances that students are finding themselves in. There’s also been an increase in accommodation fraud which is adding to this nightmare situation.”

The Students’ Union has previously highlighted the particular difficulties facing first-year students, who can receive their CAO offers relatively shortly before the academic year begins and therefore have limited time to secure somewhere to live.

De Búrca said the situation could leave new students with little choice but to accept expensive or unsuitable accommodation.

“So I really worry about them, especially when they're just coming into college and just starting out,” he previously said.

The sleep-out protest will begin at Eyre Square on Tuesday, September 1, following the 3.30pm meeting at the University of Galway campus.