Ninth Level Ireland

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called on operators of large-scale student accommodation to refund student tenants who have had to leave college and return home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It says landlord firms are refusing any refunds to students who are no longer living in the privately-operated student buildings, many of whom have lost part-time jobs due to closures as a result of the pandemic …” (more)

[Emma O Kelly, RTÉ News, 25 March]

“The Union of Students in Ireland is calling for student nurses to be paid during the current health crisis. Standard practice means hundreds are in unpaid placements across the country to earn enough hours to get qualified …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 25 March]

“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called for ‘urgent clarity’ on the situation for student nurses and midwives on placement in hospitals, arguing they need clarification on whether they’ll have to repay hours they miss as a result of the coronavirus pandemic …” (more)

[Emer Moreau and Jordan Nann, University Times, 24 March]

“The president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has criticised Trinity’s decision to instruct students to leave College accommodation this week, calling the move ‘extremely concerning’ …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 16 March]

“College presidents and student leaders have come together to ask students to avoid parties and other large social gatherings to slow the spread of Covid-19. The joint appeal is emailed out to 250,000 students to reinforce the critical importance of social distancing in the current public health crisis. There was shock over the weekend when it emerged that some students had attended ‘virus parties’ to mark the closure of colleges last week on public safety grounds …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 16 March]

“The governing body of the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) has said it will contact the college’s accommodation group requesting that the decision to increase on-campus rent be reversed, NUIG’s student union has said. It is understood Údarás na hOllscoile, NUIG’s governing authority, has agreed to contact Atalia Student Residences requesting they revoke their decision to increase campus accommodation rents by 4% …” (more)

[Sarah Burns, Irish Times, 28 February]

“For the second week in a row, Trinity students today blocked off the entrance to the College in protest at mooted rent increases, calling for a rent freeze amid a wave of demonstrations across the country at the cost of student accommodation …” (more)

[Jordan Nann and Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 27 February]

“Students at another university in Ireland have joined the protests demanding the reversal of rent increases in on-campus accommodation. NUI Galway saw students begin their sleep-out on its campus …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 27 February]

“Students are ramping up their protests against rent increases for on-campus accommodation. There has been a furious reaction to the decision by the majority of universities to hike rents in September, by 3-4%. Under recent legislation, 4% is the maximum allowable …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 27 February]

“The University of Limerick (UL) has come under fire from UL Student Life and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) for a new campus accommodation scheme that will see a second bed added to apartments originally designed for one person …” (more)

[Orla Murnaghan, University Times, 25 February]

“The president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has criticised the University of Limerick (UL) for proposals for on-campus accommodation that includes putting a second bed into rooms that were previously designed for single occupancy. Lorna Fitzpatrick said it is impossible to see how students would live or study in the conditions proposed by UL management …” (more)

[Vivienne Clarke, Irish Times, 25 February]

“University of Limerick have defended their decision to double-up some single rooms of their on-campus accommodation. In a statement the university said that the decision was taken ‘in an attempt to meet unprecedented demand in the shortest possible timeframe amid a national housing crisis’ …” (more)

[Ciarán Sunderland and Vivienne Clarke, Irish Examiner, 25 February]

“Students’ unions promised to protest until student accommodation hikes are reversed by universities. The National Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has confirmed to Independent.ie that campus protests will continue until next week. Students have taken to the streets in response to their respective universities raising campus accommodation rents for the coming academic year, 2020/2021 …” (more)

[Gabija Gataveckaite, Independent, 21 February]

“Students staged a protest in Front Square this afternoon decrying potential rent hikes to Trinity’s on-campus accommodation which would see accommodation costs increased by 4% from September, calling for College to instead implement a rent freeze …” (more)

[Lauren Boland, Trinity News, 20 February]

“Universities that are raising rents for on-campus accommodation have said the rises are due to the refurbishment and upgrade of their student residencies. In a statement, DCU said it has an ‘ongoing refurbishment investment programme’ in its student residences …” (more)

[BreakingNews.ie, 14 February]

“Elections in Ireland come around every four or five years. They provide an opportunity for voters to pick the parties and individuals who will best represent the interests of the country and its people. It is a time for our politicians to set out their stall on why they should be entrusted with government …” (more)

[Jim Miley, Lorna Fitzpatrick and Joseph Ryan, University Times, 31 January]

“The third-level sector is currently underfunded, and a system of student loans should not be introduced, each of the major parties’ spokespeople on education agree. However, the parties remain divided on how best to address such a funding deficit, identified in the landmark Cassells report, first published in 2016 …” (more)

[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 28 January]

“Students and third level colleges have united to call on political parties to commit to invest more in higher education to prevent Ireland ‘losing ground’ against international competitors. In a joint statement, the Union of Students in Ireland, the Irish Universities Association and the Technological Higher Education Association said State funding per student at third level is now 40% less than it was a decade ago …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 23 January]

“‘Crisis, what crisis?’ Three words that helped bring down Jim Callaghan’s Labour government in the 1979 UK general election. The prime minister never actually uttered these words. A Sun subeditor fashioned the headline but it captured the popular impression of an administration unaware of a serious state of affairs which had caught up with it …” (more)

[Lorna Fitzpatrick, Joseph Ryan and Jim Miley, Irish Times, 23 January]

“Higher education colleges and students have come together to push for a pre-election commitment for politicians for an increased €100m a year for the third-level sector. State funding per student to third level institutions is now 40% less than it was a decade ago because of austerity-era cuts that have not been reversed …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 23 January]