Students should ask the religious orders for permission to use the unoccupied sections of convents and monasteries as emergency accommodation for students who have difficulty in finding somewhere affordable to live, the leader of the Labour Party has said.
Mr Ruairi Quinn told the annual congress of the Union of Students in Ireland in Westport, Co Mayo, that a lot of monasteries and convents were "half empty and are going to be even more empty in five or six years' time. It's not great accommodation, but it's a roof and it's something that would deal with the immediate problem".
In the long term, the national student union should use the "serious economic power" of students to approach the financial institutions for funds to set up a student housing association, Mr Quinn said. Such an association would build, develop and manage housing for students.
