College today announced the development of new student accommodation that will house 36 students on campus amid a worsening student accommodation crisis.
Rooms on Pearse St are being refurbished for student occupancy as part of the construction on the Trinity Business School.
In a tweet announcing the new student accommodation, Provost Patrick Prendergast said that it was “great to see progress” on the project. Prendergast said that the buildings being refurbished are Trinity’s old houses 183 to 188 and that the student rooms would open out onto the street.
It is unclear when the rooms will be ready for occupancy, but the Trinity Business School construction is set for completion some time this year.
This project is not the only student accommodation the College is building. Trinity’s purpose-built student accommodation project, Printing House Square, which is currently under construction on the old site of Oisín House, will house 250 students and is set for completion in a year’s time. The College also plans to build some student accommodation on its new €1 billion technology and enterprise campus in Grand Canal Dock.
The news comes amid an ever-worsening housing crisis in Dublin that has seen students left paying exorbitant prices for accommodation or living in dire conditions. In recent weeks, students have taken action to protest against the lack of affordable accommodation in Dublin.
Trinity came under fire this year for leasing high-cost purpose-built accommodation in Kavanagh Court as a short-term solution to the lack of available housing in Dublin.
Members of Take Back Trinity have participated in well-publicised occupations of vacant properties on Summerhill Parade and on North Frederick St. After a court order, activists were forced to end their 10-day occupation of 35 Summerhill Parade but the occupation of the building on North Frederick St continues.
