While the closure of college campuses and lecture halls deprived students of the complete third-level experience, it did spare them the stress of trying to find somewhere suitable to live. But no sooner did our third-level institutions get the green light to welcome students back then the annual frenzy for accommodation resumed in earnest. And while some have been lucky enough to find the perfect place to live, to immerse themselves in the college experience completely, others have not been so lucky.
aniel Vetrila’s day begins at 5.30 a.m., he gets up, has some breakfast and hopes that his father, who works night shifts, isn’t too tired to drive him from their home in Bridgetown to Wexford town. One way or another Daniel must get into town before 7.20 a.m., for the bus to Carlow IT, the only bus. And once he gets to college he must stay there until 5.04 p.m., until the bus for home departs. While his classmates drop in and out, amble in for lectures at their leisure, Daniel’s routine has more in common with a commuting businessman than a first-year student.
Of course, if he could find somewhere in Carlow to live his life would be a lot easier.
“I guess I started looking for accommodation a bit late, in the summer, when I realised there weren't a lot of ads to rent a place in Carlow,” Daniel says. “I'm contacting landlords every day by email, but most of them don't respond, and the ones who respond inform me that the place has been already rented out. Because of the high number of students, it's difficult to be the first to contact them. Some landlords don't like the idea of students living in their house.”
The 18-year-old, who is studying Cybercrime and IT Security, pays €65 for a weekly ticket from Wexford to Carlow IT, a small enough sum, but he says the toll it’s taking on him physically which is proving problematic.
“It's only the start of the year, so I can't really tell you how this affects me financially, but getting up at 5.30 a.m. and arriving home at about 7 p.m. because I travel about 90km each way daily doesn't really give me the opportunity to get a part-time job, and I got very little time left to do any school work,” Daniel says. “There's facilities available in the school to do your own work while waiting for the bus, but it's not home. Getting a bus can be problematic too, because firstly, I have to find transport to Wexford town, and also there's only two buses going to and from Carlow each day. Say if my last class ends at 1 p.m., I have to wait for the bus until 5 p.m. to get back home.”
And Daniel is not the only one in this situation. “The buses are packed every morning, classmates from my secondary school are also having trouble looking for accommodation. Even yesterday evening a friend of mine went looking at an apartment and the landlord told him they don’t take students.”
While the public perception of first-year students is one of late-night partying, stumbling into class, and embracing the freedom of living away from home, Daniel’s dedication and commitment has seen him complete this long commute to college every day since the semester started. “I wouldn’t like to miss out on anything,” he says. “Of course, it would be easier if the classes were online but I’m learning a lot by being in class every day. This isn’t just happening in Carlow it’s happening all over the country and the government don’t seem to be doing a whole lot about it.”
Jack O’Brien secured a place on an Arts course in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick this year. Mindful of the imminent scramble for accommodation he found somewhere to live as early as June. College course secured and accommodation sorted he thought he could relax.
“A couple of weeks before the semester started, I got a call from the landlord to say there’d been an incident in the kitchen and it had been fire-damaged. I was told that essentially I didn’t have a place to stay until December or January,” Jack (18) says.
And so Jack was thrust into the fight for accommodation, a fight he thought he’d managed to avoid. Not surprisingly, given the short notice, he hasn’t been able to find anywhere. “There was nothing, nowhere to stay, I tried everything, called everyone. I’m currently staying in a hotel at a cost of €300 a week but I know some people who are having to pay €500. In Limerick at Mary I, I’m working part-time but it’s still very expensive,” he says.
There may however, be some light at the end of the tunnel. A few hours before we speak Jack received an email with an offer of a room. “I might have a place, it’s €200 a week for a room in a house but I’d have free rein of the place.”
Hopeful that his own college experience can finally begin in earnest, Jack says many of his friends are still staying in hotels or commuting. “I know so many people who are in this position, I have friends who are having to commute to Waterford, Carlow, even Dublin. The latest I’ve heard all the colleges are sending out emails to people in the area asking them if they have rooms for their students. I thought I had a room with a woman just five minutes from the college but she pulled out because she said she’d had a bad experience with a student before.”
