Fifty-five international students who faced eviction in the middle of term from their accommodation can now relax a little.
The Neptune House residence in Blackrock has been running for six years with accommodation for 55 students. The building dates from the 1960s, but was refurbished in the late 1980s Trinity College has a lease on the building and a college company, the Trinity Institute has also had its base there.
Although they were reluctant to negotiate through the media, the students say that at the beginning of the academic year they signed a contract on the basis of which they could stay in the residence until May 31st.
Earlier this month one student wrote to The Irish Times saying; "At this very moment, Trinity Institute is threatening to evict us from the premises if we are not out by the 16th of March! The reason for this is that someone has decided to sell the premises, and thus our house has to be vacant. Our contract is being breached and 55 international students are going to lose their accommodation, with only a couple of months to go before the exams!"
Not in a mood to be treated so lightly, the students said they were going to mobilise their Irish lecturers, home universities and even embassies in their support.
A spokesperson from Trinity could not confirm these reports but said: "Negotiations are now under way to allow continued residence there by students until 31 May, 2000 - these negotiations are likely to be successful."
She said the owners of the premises had indicated their wish to sell the property, and to be in a position to offer vacant possession to allow the sale to proceed quickly but that students would not have been left homeless.
"College had accepted full responsibility for the accommodation of the students resident in Neptune House should this arise." The college denied that eviction notices were served: "We would like to stress that there never was any question of students being `evicted'. Any distress caused to the students in Neptune House is very much regretted."
