Ninth Level Ireland

“Clare’s Fine Gael TD insists students at the University of Limerick cannot be left out of pocket with accommodation bills due to the coronavirus. UL’s governing body is to consider issuing partial refunds to students, following the example of other colleges including University College Cork, after being shut down due to the virus pandemic …” (more)

[Clare FM, 5 April]

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) have called for students to be refunded for any accommodation they can not use during the current pandemic. DCU will not reopen for the remainder of the semester and so a majority of students have been forced to move back to their family homes indefinitely amid the current pandemic …” (more)

[Róisín Phelan, The College View, 4 April]

“Cavan Monaghan Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has called for government intervention to ensure that students who have left rented accommodation due to the Covid-19 emergency receive refunds from the landlords in respect of time not spent in that accommodation …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 4 April]

“In January, the Trinity’s Health Promotion Officer visited Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Council to present a proposal which had been circling: the idea of expanding Trinity’s tobacco-free campus to Trinity Hall. The presentation was informal, and designed as an effort to seek feedback from students on whether they would support or reject the idea …” (more)

[Darragh McDonagh, Trinity News, 3 April]

“University of Limerick has come under immense pressure from students, parents and politicians alike to refund accommodation fees to its students who vacated the campus due to Covid-19. Students who have returned home have been told they can claim back deposits they paid at the beginning of the year, but will not be refunded rent that covers the rest of the semester …” (more)

[Rebecca Laffan, Limerick Leader, 4 April]

“Students that are currently renting properties from Aparto student accommodation in Montrose have been told they are not in a position to receive a refund. Despite many students having to return to family homes both in Ireland and abroad, Aparto maintain their accommodation is ‘still safe’ …” (more)

[Luke Murphy, College Tribune, 3 April]

“The University of Limerick is refusing to make refunds to students who have vacated the university accommodation due to the COVID crisis. UL Student Union has released a statement urging the university to consider refunding students, demanding that ‘The University of Limerick must show a duty of care to its students during the COVID-19 pandemic’ …” (more)

[Ali Condon, Extra.ie, 2 April]

“The completion of the Printing House Square project faces possible delays due to the coronavirus. The on-campus accommodation complex, set to house 250 students, was expected to be completed this summer in time for the new academic year. However, following the government’s decision last Friday to halt all non-essential building work, construction sites on campus have been closed and it is unclear when they will reopen …” (more)

[Aisling Grace, Trinity News, 2 April]

“Students’ unions across the country, as well as the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), have called on luxury accommodation providers to refund students forced to leave early due to the coronavirus outbreak …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 1 April]

“Sinn Féin Senator Máire Devine has said that vacant student accommodation and hotels should be used to accommodate frontline healthcare staff where possible, saying that a number of nurses and other hospital staff who have returned home to find they are struggling to access accommodation or who cannot stay at home due to ‘at risk’ people within the household. Senator Devine said …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 1 April]

“Sinn Féin Housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has called for all landlords, private and university, to refund students who have had to end their licences early because of COVID-19. Deputy Ó Broin said: ‘We have received hundreds of emails from students and their parents who have had leave their private rented accommodation and end their licenses early due to COVID-19. They have been refused rent refunds …'” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 1 April]

“Students, migrants and young people renting rooms are being left in ‘legal limbo’ as some are facing eviction during the coronavirus crisis. Despite emergency legislation being amended to prevent all tenants – including those not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act – from being evicted during the Covid-19 pandemic, housing charity Threshold says it remains unclear whether people living under the rent-a-room scheme are being afforded the same protections …” (more)

[Amy Molloy, Independent, 31 March]

“Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Education, Thomas Byrne, has called on the University of Limerick to do the right thing and refund rent to students who had to leave campus accommodation early due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Deputy Byrne said that UL should be following in the path of other Universities who are refunding pre-paid rents to students who have left …” (more)

[Fianna Fáil, 30 March]

“The University of Limerick (UL) has come under fire after refusing to issue refunds to students who leave the college’s accommodation early due to the coronavirus pandemic. Students leaving UL’s accommodation have been told they can claim back deposits paid at the beginning of the year, but will not be refunded rent that covers the rest of the semester …” (more)

[Alex Connolly, University Times, 30 March]

“Students at the University of Limerick (UL) are urging the university to refund rent to students who leave campus accommodation early due to the coronavirus outbreak. UL has told students they can claim their deposit back early but that rents paid for the rest of the semester will not be refunded. It is in stark contrast to other universities …” (more)

[Kevin O’Neill, Irish Examiner, 30 March]

“Students renting from a UK-wide university accommodation company are being held liable for hefty fees despite the coronavirus outbreak. The Student Roost, which has 20 locations across the country including four facilities in Belfast, is charging students for their digs up until April 30 despite course cancellations and campus closures …” (more)

[John Toner, Belfast Telegraph, 29 March]

“Large scale student accommodation providers should refund students forced to return home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s according to NUI Galway’s Student Union and the Union of Students in Ireland, who say landlord firms are refusing refunds to students no longer living in privately operated student buildings …” (more)

[Galway Bay FM, 26 March]

“A large private student landlord firm is ‘adjusting its policies’, having previously refused refunds to students who left their accommodation during the Covid-19 crisis. However, Uninest, which manages some of the largest student residence complexes in the country, has still not confirmed if it will refund rent to students who felt safer returning to their family homes during the public health emergency …” (more)

[Eoin English, Irish Examiner, 26 March]

“Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Housing, Planning and Local Government, Darragh O’Brien has called on third level universities and institutions to offer partial refunds for accommodation to students …” (more)

[Fianna Fáil, 26 March]

“Students and staff who have remained in residence after College’s closure have been told to register with a phone app that will allow Trinity to track who is living on campus at any given time. College instructed students to vacate its accommodation last week, but allowed some – who met specific criteria – to remain, in a move to limit the spread of the coronavirus on campus …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University News, 26 March]