NUI Galway Students’ Union (SU ) has today called on Galway landlords and student accommodation providers to provide refunds to students who no longer need to be in Galway due to the switch to online learning.
So far the university managed Corrib Village and Goldcrest developments along with the privately run Menlo Park apartments have agreed to offer refunds to students not taking up their accommodation offers.
In a joint letter written by the NUI Galway president Ciarán Ó hOgartaigh and the SU president Pádraic Toomey this week to accommodation providers, there was a call to show “care and compassion to students during the Covid-19 emergency”.
The letter also recognised that property owners are also facing a “stressful and difficult economic time” but that there is a need to work together to “create an impression of Galway as a destination for study".
SU president Pádraic Toomey said; “With the announcement that most teaching will be online for the current semester at NUI Galway a lot of our students have found themselves with accommodation they no longer need and can’t afford.
"This is adding extra financial pressures to students and their families at a stressful time of huge uncertainty. We are calling on all accommodation providers in Galway to talk to their tenants and look at how they can be flexible in their rental agreements.”
SU welfare and equality officer Róisín Nic Lochlainn added; “We hope that other student accommodation providers and landlords in Galway will follow in the footsteps of Campus Living and Menlo Park and provide refunds to students who no longer need accommodation.
"I’ve met with representatives from most of the large student accommodation developments to try to impress upon them the need for compassion this year so that students can afford to rent in Galway in future years.”
