http___www.universitytimes.ie_2016_08_nil-an-reiteach-amhain-ar-an-ngearcheim-iostais-ata-i-gcomhlachtai-priobhaideacha__1.xml
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The accommodation crisis in Dublin has long left policy-makers in government scratching their heads for a solution, with long-term strategies providing little comfort to students entering college in September. With the future of Trinity’s Oisin House accommodation project uncertain, and University College Dublin’s (UCD) €300 million accommodation expansion still several years away, the private sector has stepped in to provide much-needed beds for students. The accommodation has proved wildly popular – despite prices of €824 per month, the Student Housing Company’s 471-bed Binary Hub has sold out for September. Unsurprisingly, the company has plans for more accommodation for next year, and only a curmudgeon would deny that more student housing, in whatever form, should be welcomed. Yet an enterprising private sector isn’t going to solve the accommodation crisis singlehandedly – Trinity’s stalled accommodation project still remains a massive loss, and not simply because it means Dublin has 280 less beds for students. UCD’s campus plan for on-campus accommodation for 3,000 students too, offers students things not found in private accommodation. Lower prices are of course one of those things. The prices for Trinity Hall are considerable lower than those in the Binary Hub, for instance, making such accommodation more affordable to the average student. Yet just as important are the less tangible elements of university accommodation. How many pantomimes will be put be performed in private sector accommodation? Will staff call round to check on new students settling in? These examples, while flippant, capture the value of university accommodation. The aim isn’t just to provide a room, but to create a community linked to the values and ethos of the university. In an accommodation crisis, how important is such a community? Trinity’s Dean of Students, Prof Kevin O’Kelly, certainly thinks we’d lose something without it: “I think we’d be losing an opportunity to help students in their transition to college, which is both an academic transition but it’s a personal transition, it’s developmental”, he told The University Times earlier this month. The private sector’s talent does not lie in providing support to students entering college, and their presence alone cannot be seen as a solution to the crisis. Students deserve more than simply a room, and it up to the government to ensure university accommodation exists as a viable option for students.
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Le fada, lig an ghéarchéim iostais i mBaile Átha Cliath lucht déanta beartas trína chéile agus iad ag lorg réitigh leis, agus is beag suaimhneas a thabharfaidh straitéisí fad-téarmacha do mhic léinn atá ag iontráil sa Choláiste i Meán Fómhair. Agus todhchaí éiginnte ag an bhforbairt iostais, Teach Oisín, agus moill de chúpla bliana ann le haghaidh leathnaithe iostais Choláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath de €300 milliún, is an earnáil phríobháideach atá ag iarraidh faoi láthair leapacha atá ag teastáil go práinneach a sholáthar do mhic léinn. Is cinnte go bhfuil an-tóir ar an iostas sin – in ainneoin praghsanna de €824 sa mhí, beidh gach ceann dena 471 leaba sa Mhol Dénártha den Chomhlacht Tithíochta Mac Léinn in úsáid i Meán Fómhair. Ní haon ionadh, dá bharr sin, go bhfuil pleananna le haghaidh iostais níos mó don bhliain seo chugainn ag an gcomhlacht. Agus níl ann ach sean-chráiteoir a dhiúltódh gur cheart go mbeadh fáilte roimh iostas ar bith do mhic léinn. Áfach, ní féidir le hearnáil phríobháideach fhiontraíoch an ghéarchéim iostais a réiteach ina haonair – is mór atá caillte sa thionscadal iostais idirbhriste a bhí ag Colaiste na Tríonóide, agus ní hamháin an easpa leapacha atá mar chúis leis an gcailleadh sin. Tairgeann plean Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath chun iostas a thabhairt do 3,000 mac léinn ar an gcampas i bhfad níos mó ná a aimsítear in iostas príobháideach. Ar ndóigh, i measc iad sin tá praghsanna níos lú. Tá na praghsanna i Halla na Tríonóide i bhfad níos lú ná na praghsanna ata sa Mhol Dénártha, rud a dhéanann iostas inachmhainne de sin don mhac léinn. Ach tá na gnéithe níos doláimhsithe d’iostas ollscoile chomh tábhachtach sin freisin. Cé mhéad geamaireachtaí a chuirfear ar siúl in iostas príobháideach? An rachaidh baill foirne timpeall chun cabhrú le mic léinn agus iad ag cur iad féin in óiriúint do shaol na hollscoile? Cé gur deiliúsach iad na samplaí seo, is iontusa a fheicimid luach dáiríre iostais ollscoile. Tá níos mó san aidhm ná seomra a chruthú, ach táimid ag iarraidh comhphobal a aontú le luachanna na hollscoile. I ngéarchéim iostais, cé chomh tábhachtach atá an comhphobal seo? Cheap Déan na Mac Léinn, Kevin O’Kelly, go gcaillfimid rud éigin gan é: “Cheap mé go mbeimis ag cailleadh deise cabhrú le mic léinn ar feadh a n-idirthréimhse, idirthréimshe atá chomh acadúil is atá sé pearsanta agus forbairtheach,” a dúirt sé le The University Times. Ar an drochuair, níl tallaine na hearnála príobháidí le haimsiú i dtacaíocht a sholáthar do mhic léinn atá ag tosú a dtréimhse in ollscoil, agus níl mar réiteach ar an ngéarchéim a láithreacht féin. Tá níos mó ná seomra tuillte ag mic léinn, agus tá sé ar an rialtas cinntiú go mbeidh ollscoileanna in ann cuid d’iostas a sholáthar.