West students’ union to sleep out to highlight accommodation crisis

University of Galway Students’ Union will be holding an accommodation protest and sleep out at Eyre Square on Tuesday next, September 1.

The protest will meet the Quadrangle at University of Galway campus at 3.30 p.m. and make its way to Eyre Square where there will be speeches at 4 p.m. before the students set up camp for the night.

The union is calling on the government and the university to come up with urgent solutions for the huge numbers of Galway students with no accommodation confirmed for the academic term starting next week.

The sleep out protest aims to draw attention to the plight of the many students who can’t find housing.

Students’ Union President Seán de Búrca said: “Our students are among the 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.

"We are calling for affordable student accommodation, digs legislation, and for our public representatives to finally start taking this issue seriously.”

Students’ Union Vice President/Welfare and Equality Officer Molly Hickey added: “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.”

PICTURED (Left to Right): Molly Hickey, Cathal Ó hÉigeartaigh and Seán de Búrca (University of Galway Students’ Union)