University College Dublin (UCD) will open one of its on-campus libraries to students who don’t have internet or laptop access at home, despite a two-week shutdown of the university.
The Irish Times today reported that UCD is taking the measure for a small number of students without reliable internet access or laptops.
The library space would hold significantly less than 100 people indoors and would observe social distancing.
Some university library staff, according to the Irish Times, have expressed concerns about the plan given the circumstances.
In an email to staff, the university librarian Dr John Howard said the measures were necessary to aid students “who have no access to computers or wifi in their home circumstance”.
“If there is higher than anticipated demand this approach will be reviewed … we will not provide any face-to-face services or active invigilation of the library space”, Howard added.
In Trinity, controversy erupted last night when the College instructed all residents to leave its accommodation this week, with international students given just 48 hours to move out.
Today, the College issued a number of clarifications to the plan, which The University Times reported was causing “stress and anxiety” to many international students.
Residents of Binary Hub and Kavanagh Court, luxury student accommodation complexes linked to the College, are no longer required to move out, while the criteria under which students are allowed to remain has been expanded.
“In respect of students resident in Kavanagh Court and Binary Hub, we recognise that these properties are not owned or managed by Trinity College but by private providers”, a post on Trinity’s website said.
“Therefore we are not in a position to manage the situation for students residing in Binary Hub or in Kavanagh Court and our email of yesterday should be read as strong advice to return home if that option is available to them rather than a requirement that they do so.”
Students unable to make travel arrangements to get home can extend their deadline for moving out of Trinity’s accommodation, Provost Patrick Prendergast said today.
In an email to Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin, published on Twitter this afternoon, Prendergast also said that Trinity “will not ask for evidence” from students who feel they meet the criteria required to be allowed to remain on campus.
