Student accommodation crisis: surge in numbers experiencing financial problems

Welcome to this edition of the Student Hub email digest! In this issue, we examine the single largest source of expenditure among students in higher education. With average monthly rents reaching €469 a month, up from €415 in 2019 when the Eurostudent report was last published, the volume of students experiencing serious financial difficulties has risen significantly. Carl O’Brien reports; For all their image as devil-may-care country lads disrupting the world of daytime radio, there are some boundaries that the 2 Johnnies are reluctant to cross, writes Mick Heaney in his review of 2FM’s Drive It with the 2 Johnnies; Sweeping changes to existing abortion law are expected to be recommended following a review; Brianna Parkins writes about that now famous photo of Micheal D Higgins behind his desk having a natter with the other president, Joe Biden; We have a report from the Smedia awards; Diarmaid Ferriter on the Troubles and more...

Student accommodation crisis: Surge in number of students experiencing serious financial problems since 2019, survey shows: Accommodation is single largest source of expenditure, with average monthly rents reaching €469.

The 2 Johnnies: the blokey swagger is wearing very thin: The podcasting duo’s irreverent style is wearing thin on 2FM, while Dermot and Dave’s double act becomes a one-man show.

Abortion review: A review into the State’s abortion law is set to recommend sweeping changes including the decriminalisation of doctors, a change to the waiting period to access termination medication and changes to the granting of abortions in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities.

A fare farewell: Luxembourg marks three years of free public transport: Rushing commuters pour from Luxembourg’s vaulted central train station out towards waiting trams and buses, their doors sliding open for the flow of people to board. There is no pause to swipe cards, pay fares, or pass ticket gates, because for three years now public transport in the landlocked European country has been free.

Michael D Higgins’ desk: D Higgins should have a messy desk. I would be worried if not: In yet another display of people not knowing how to mind their business, the internet got into a bit of a tizz last week over a few bits of paper on the President’s desk, writes Brianna Parkins.

Smedia Awards: Galway Pulse crowned Newspaper of the Year at Student Media Awards: Overall University of Galway received seven awards. The ceremony took place on Thursday April 20th 2023 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The annual event celebrates the achievements of students in media-related fields across the country.

The Troubles: It’s time to talk about the suffering of victims: Now that the veteran peacemakers have completed their round of events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, it is worth drawing attention to another conference in Queen’s University Belfast that was held on April 1st. Rather than the high politics of powersharing, this conference, organised by members of the Truth Recovery Process (TRP), was focused on different ways of managing the trauma generated by the Troubles, writes Diarmaid Ferriter.

Neutrality: Martin signals support for dropping ‘triple lock’ for deploying Defence Forces overseas: Tánaiste Micheál Martin has signalled support for dropping the ‘triple lock’ policy for deploying the Defence Forces overseas saying it is “morally wrong” that an authoritarian power has a “de facto veto” on how Ireland reacts to international situations.

Sex education: People don’t have sex because they learned about it in sex education class: Young people need fact-based education. Learning about sex from pornography is like learning about police work from Die Hard.

Soft power: Ireland could transform itself by implementing one form of soft power: A system to bring over the young global Irish to the ‘old country’ each year would pay off in spades, writes David McWilliams.

Rí an cheabairé: Iarracht phobail ar son ‘Rí an cheabairé’ Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí: Bhí cóngas gaoil i gcónaí idir pobal éisteachta Raidió na Gaeltachta agus craoltóirí an stáisiúin sin. B’fhéidir nach iontas ar bith é. Ón uair a bunaíodh an stáisiún breis agus caoga bliain ó shin ba ó mhórphobal na Gaeltachta a d’eascair na craoltóirí, na haíonna agus na fostaithe, a scríobhann Éanna Ó Caollaí.