A Trinity College languages teacher says the rental crisis has left him with no choice but to live in a mixed-bed dormitory with backpackers and stag parties.
Trinity Teaching Fellow Niall Kennedy said he has worked at the college for five years – but has been on short-term contracts that leave him unemployed during the summer months.
Last summer he was forced to give up his flat in Dublin as he could no longer afford the rent.
Mr Kennedy said he went to live in Antrim for the summer and when he was offered a new contract this September, he was unable to find anywhere to live.
He said he sent out dozens and dozens of applications and got “absolutely nowhere,” with one rental agency telling him they get over 1,000 applications for every room they advertise.
The Trinity teacher now lives in Antrim at the weekends and spends €40 – €60 a night to live in shared dormitories in Dublin during the week.
“It all adds up to about €1,000 a month for this really, really difficult living situation,” he said. “I’m sharing with up to eight and ten people to a room.”
“They are obviously not very comfortable beds. You could be sharing with stag parties. I have stepped over people passed out on the floor.
“There is nowhere quiet in the evenings so that I can prepare classes or send emails or do any of the regular admin stuff I have to do.
“I like hostelling culture when I am on holiday, but it’s just not really possible to do a professional job while living in these conditions.”
I am seeing very small studios for €1800+ or one-bedroom apartments for €2000+. This money would have gotten a very comfortable flat a few years ago. Over 95% of the places I inquire about don’t respond at all. Teaching starts and I still haven’t found anywhere to live 6/20
— Niall Kennedy (@NiallDKennedy) September 28, 2022
He said the situation has left him sick and “pretty exhausted”.
“Even if you’re lucky enough to have quiet roommates … often your dorm is over a bar,” he said.
“Kitchen facilities are minimal so it is very hard to eat healthy and laundry facilities are non-existent. It is just very hard to keep going and get yourself in the state you would want to be in to give your best in your work.
A number of colleagues are in the same position, making a disrupted term even more disrupted. Have you tried sounding coherent in front of a class after spending the night in the same dormitory as a stag party from Leeds? It’s not easy. Kitchen/laundry facilities minimal. 8/20
— Niall Kennedy (@NiallDKennedy) September 28, 2022
“You can hear me coughing. I have had a nagging cough for about a week. These places are not very healthy to live in.
“It is stag parties, backpackers – which you know, no harm to them, I’ve done it all myself – but it is not the sort of situation you want to be in when you are going to a job where you have to be sharp and look presentable and you have to give your best to students who are paying very high fees to be taught.”
If things are bad for us, its even worse for students, especially internationals with no-one to stay with in Ireland. Some are commuting from Belfast or Galway. Others are moving from couch to couch in friends’ places, or thinking about living in tents 14/20
— Niall Kennedy (@NiallDKennedy) September 28, 2022
Mr Kennedy said his situation can be traced to two main issues – the rental crisis and the precarious short-term contracts on offer in third-level education.
He said up to 50% of teachers and lecturers in third-level education are either part-time or on temporary contracts.
It means they are unable to get mortgages and are faced with minimum rental contracts of 12 months when they are only employed for nine.
“There is just a diminishing number of secure permanent jobs out there and we are all fighting very hard over the ones that remain,” he said.
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