Living on campus gives you a real slice of student life and extra time in bed, Laois footballer Ross Munnelly tells Alanna Gallagher. But campus accommodation is in short supply, especially in Dublin

SOME 10 per cent of the student population lives on campus and judging by the standard of accommodation on offer, its no surprise that places are greatly sought after.

Ross Munnelly, from Arles in Laois plays forward position for his county team. With a degree in economics and geography already under his belt, he came to DCU to do a Masters in education and is presently studying for his HDip in education, which will qualify him as a teacher.

The real beauty of living on campus is that you're a three or four-minute walk to lectures, says Munnelly.

The library is a mere 30 seconds from his building.

"I live in a five-room apartment, which I share with four others whom I didn't know before we moved in together," he says. "It only took a few days to break the ice though and the fact that we each have our own private room, complete with en suite bathroom, to escape to, if you want a bit of peace and quiet, really balances out the living together experience.

"Some of the rooms have single beds, others have doubles - I'm one of the lucky ones - I have a double bed."

There's also a large living/eating/cooking area with television, internet access and most of the mod cons you'd expect in a kitchen.

The exception is a dishwasher - each of the students looks after washing and drying their own dishes, which is the only fault fourth year computer application and software engineering student Colin McGrath could find with on-campus living.

With a restaurant on site you need never cook at all actually, which dispenses with the dishwashing issue altogether.

Are there any housekeeping issues? "I'm naturally tidy but we all tend to keep the place shipshape as there are still several inspections during the year, which keeps everyone on their toes," says Munnelly. He doesn't even have to change a lightbulb. If you need stuff fixed, all you have to do is go and sign a maintenance form and someone will do it for you. The footballing forward pays about €4,500 for a nine-month contract which includes heating, lighting and internet. This works out at €125 per week for 32 weeks.

"Living on campus is like living in a big village and you can come and go as you please," says the Laois footballer.

The experience of campus life varies from university to university, depending on the percentage of accommodation on offer in relation to the number of students attending but across the country, students seem to be wising up to the positives of being on campus versus renting in the private sector.

Fashions change says Maura O'Neill, accommodation officer at UCC. "Two years ago, second and third years wouldn' be seen dead living in The Complex on campus - it was strictly for the first years to find their feet. Now I can't get any first years accommodation there because of demand from second and third years."

Graduate arts student Ciaran Rose spent three years renting accommodation while attending UCD.

He spent his first year sharing a room in Ringsend, his second year with a room of his own in an apartment in Portobello and also in a bedsit in Ranelagh with two rooms to himself and sharing a bathroom.

In his third year he bunked in on-campus accommodation. When asked to rate the experiences, the bedsit was best for him. "It was in a good location, close to college but still in the real world," he explains.

"My situation was unique though, as two of my best friends were also living in the same building. I had the best of both worlds, company and privacy."

Accommodation on campus is usually applied for when Leaving Certs fill in their CAO forms. Demand starts in February and students have to reapply for on-campus accommodation every academic year.

In the University of Limerick, they try where possible to guarantee accommodation on campus to first years who contact them before May 1st.