College has urged Halls students to keep their blinds closed in the kitchen or to turn off their lights, in response to alleged complaints from nearby residents about light pollution.
In an email sent to residents on Monday with the subject line, “Who’s watching you?”, the Accommodation Office asked students if they “really want our neighbours to see what your lifestyle is and how you live?”.
“We are seeing a lot of lights on unnecessarily (with blinds open) and there is no sign of anyone home”, it said. “Our neighbours regularly ring us to tell us that there are lights left on in empty kitchens (in some cases 24 hours a day), blinds wide open and no one home.”
The Accommodation Office added that the light pollution was a waste of energy, adding that “we don’t want Greta [Thunberg] to have to visit”.
Speaking to The University Times, Catherine O’Mahony, a Trinity media relations officer, said: “Trinity Hall has confirmed in general terms that it gets regular complaints from Dartry residents about light pollution. Complaints from residents in the area about items on view in windows and on balconies in Halls are also regular.”
The office also said: “We know that you’re all proud of your window decorations, your can & bottles sculptures, as well as the other items (posters/flags etc) on display in the windows. Unfortunately your window displays are a breach of the conditions of occupancy and this means Halls is breaching its planning permission. It also really annoys our neighbours!!”
One group of students – living in a flat facing on to Dartry Rd – have pasted a “help” sign on to their window with post-it notes, mimicking similar signs in the Manchester Metropolitan University that went viral.
The Accommodation Office as a result asked students to take down items in their windows, and to “wait till it snows then you can go for it with snow shapes!”.
The email also included that a “new, very cosy covered, social distancing possible” smoking area has been introduced in Halls. This is to avoid inflicting “those who live near house doors or on the ground floor with passive smoking.” The Accommodation Office asked smokers to “check out the shelter” instead of illegally smoking indoors (called “a definite ‘no’, ‘no’” in the email) or smoking in the courtyard areas.
These latest restrictions and reminders come just one month after The University Times reported on an environment of isolation and fear affecting this year’s Halls residents, with multiple students describing Halls as a “prison”.
Students residing in Halls face threats of severe punishments, evictions and fines worth hundreds of euro for breaking the complex’s strict rules. Just one week ago, six students were fined €250 each for an indoor gathering of both Halls residents and non-residents, this newspaper reported.
