Sir, - While it is laudable that the current shortage of student accommodation is being reported in the national media, it looks as if this issue, at least for those not affected, will soon be forgotten.
Presently in Dublin, there is a crisis that does not look likely to end. Students are accepting unsuitable accommodation to avoid staying on friends' floors for the entire year. It is not unusual to see advertisements reading, "one-bed flat - suit three or four"; nor is it unusual to find that students are resigning themselves to paying large rents for such accommodation. Given that most third-level institutions already experience pressure on resources such as libraries, the accommodation shortage must only further increase this pressure. Studying at home when home is a grossly overcrowded flat is simply not an option. Are we to see a rush of articles about university resource shortage approaching the end-of-term exams next year?
Nobody with a concern for education can afford to resign themselves to the ridiculous conditions now forced on students. As long as successive governments continue not to address the issue of student housing, the problem can only get worse. - Yours, etc., Margaret Walsh,
Court Hill, Dunboyne, Co Meath.