Some Trinity students are forgoing Dublin accommodation this semester, opting instead for lengthy commutes to save money as Trinity shifts heavily online.
In an email to the college community on September 18th, Provost Patrick Prendergast confirmed that all teaching and learning not requiring an in-person presence will be moved online due to tightened coronavirus restrictions.
Even before this announcement, however, The University Times reported some student timetables of only two hours in person a week, a number now likely to shrink even further.
This has led some students to question the value of paying considerable sums of money for accommodation they will likely not need.
Third-year science students Jacqui Ryall and Julia Mullaney, for example, told this newspaper that commuting this semester from Cork and Sligo, respectively, will allow them to save the money they would have spent on accommodation and keep their jobs in their home counties.
Some students had the benefit of receiving their timetables before making the decision to commute. Computer Science student Harry Doyle will be commuting from two to two and a half hours from Cork, but told this newspaper that he only has in-person class for two days a month so accommodation “was not really needed”.
With two weeks to go before the beginning of term, Ryall, who will be commuting three hours from Cork, had yet to receive confirmation of her timetable, saying in an email: “I wish Trinity would openly communicate more with their students, especially during this stressful period. College starts in two weeks and we’ve been left completely in the dark.”
Commuters in the time of coronavirus face many additional challenges, including needing space on campus to attend online lectures if they are back-to-back with in-person lectures, like those reported for third-year law students last week.
“Where does the university suppose their commuters do their online classes if they’re commuting to get to their one lecture a week?” asks third-year student Bev Genockey, who has commuted from Meath the last two years but would have preferred Dublin accommodation this year due to the heavier load of coursework.
The new student spaces being put on campus will likely be the answer, but little is known about what the demand will be like for the 45-minute slots available to book.
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President Eoin Hand said that the union will be monitoring how frequently the spaces are used and tweaking the protocols accordingly, but that too much is unknown at this point to make any further decisions, and that “it’s an unfortunate extra pressure that’s put on students then because these are just variables that we can’t pin down yet”.
The most difficult decision yet may be whether or not commuting is feasible in light of the most recent government restrictions. Dublin is on level three of the Government’s new Framework for Restrictive Measures, which advises travel to and from Dublin to be limited to essential purposes like work and education.
Even though travel for education is allowed, it poses significant health and safety risks both for the travelling student and those they may come in contact with while travelling or when back in their home county. “It’s health risks, financial burdens, and it’s just stressful as well because you’re going from your own home place up to the city”, said Hand.
Commuting for the first time will be a big shift for these students, and any associated difficulties are compounded by uncertainty over changing government guidelines. With all of these challenges, Mullaney said it’s important to prioritize college work. “You can’t let this sacrifice your grades or your education”, she said.
According to Daft.ie’s 2019 report, the average Dublin rental price has surpassed €2,000 a month, which Hand credits as the reason some students are commuting.
“If [students] don’t have enough in face teaching, then it’s financially non-viable for them to stay in Dublin to be paying €7/8/900 a month for an hour a week of in-face lectures,” said Hand.
Hand added that TCDSU is fielding “dozens” of queries from students about commuting this semester. “All we can assume is that the people who have contacted us are a smaller percentage of the people who this is actually affecting,” said Hand. “It’s going to be a huge issue.”
