Intensifying a course of ongoing disruption to Trinity’s residents, works to extend Dublin’s Luas system are to take place on a 24/7 basis, interfering with remaining residents and resulting in the relocation of end-of-year exams.
An email to residents today from Trinity’s Accommodation Office warns that Luas has advised College that “works will be undertaken on a 24/7 basis to prepare for road resurfacing”. The work, it states, will be undertaken this week, with the resurfacing taking place next week.
“In addition, they advise that they will also be installing kerbing in some locations”, the email continues.
Exams held in Regent House, above Front Arch, have been relocated to locations such as the Trinity Business School, on Pearse St, due to what is cited in an email to students from Trinity as a “noise distraction”.
”I’m grateful to the exams office, who reacted very quickly to move all exams from Regent House”, the President of TCDSU, Kieran McNulty, stated in an email to The University Times.
Continuing their offer that has run for months, TCDSU has offered to assist students affected. “We can move students who are still studying and living on campus to Goldsmith or unaffected areas if they’re still going through exams”, McNulty stated.
While the majority of Trinity’s student residents moved out on Saturday, May 13th, some students have paid to extend their residency due to exams, with the official examination period not over until May 26th. In addition, the summer months, from the end of May, see tourists rent out on-campus apartments, paying up to €79 for a single room a night, which comes as a financial boost to the College.
The works, which are connecting the city’s two tram lines and sees work take place directly outside of Trinity’s walls beside both Front Square and Botany Bay, have been taking place since June 2013, but have increased in their intensity outside of Trinity this year and have attracted national media attention for their disruption to students during the exam period.
Students have pointed to the expense of on-campus accommodation, which costed €6,588.22 this year for a room in Front Square or Botany Bay, as well as the importance of sleep to prepare for exams.
Both TCDSU and College have sought to minimise its effects by lobbying with the Luas team. Earlier in the year, TCDSU offered to house students in hostels, with College also offering students foldout beds for their sitting rooms, which face away from the works.
Students left sitting their exams are still resorting to sleeping in their sitting rooms.
This lobbying saw the works outside of Botany Bay suspended until May 14th, with work outside of Front Square continuing uninterrupted.
“As usual, the Luas project have advised that these works have been licenced by the local authority”, Trinity’s email states.
Katrien Goossens, a representative of Sisk Steconfer Joint Venture Utilities Limited, speaking to The University Times in February, had said that: “We are aware of the exam period from mid to late April to May and will factor that into our programme of works.”
