A 21-year-old student has been left with no option but to live out of her car as the new college year begins after her attempt to find accommodation failed.
Jessica McGirr, who is a University of Galway student, sent out over 150 emails to landlords across Galway city and further afield, but to no avail.
She started her search back in March 2022 and is now in her second week of college and is living out of her car.
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The Donegal woman revealed to the Irish Independent that she still hasn’t found a strong lead in securing a place to live, so she is bouncing between her car and her friends' homes.
"This is my third year in Galway so I knew it was going to be rough because it was really rough last year but I didn’t think it was going to be this bad,” she told the Irish Independent.
"Anything that came up on Daft I would text them and 99pc of the time no one would even respond to me.”
She went on to say that at the moment there are a mere 15 rental homes available on Daft across Galway City and suburbs.
Jessica said she has had no choice with her living situation because she must attend her lectures in Galway in person.
She said: “I couldn't stay at home because none of my lectures are online and I have to be on campus for them, and I don't have the money to stay in a hotel every night so I just decided I would go up in the car and then I just text a friend every night and ask if I can stay in their room.”
The 21-year-old said she was going to commute from Donegal but that she decided against it when she realised it would take her three hours each way and at least €80 in fuel for a round-trip.
Reminiscing on last year, she said her accommodation was a disaster and quite dangerous, as drug users were often in the building, however, if she knew of her situation this year, she would have gladly kept her apartment there.
"Last year I stayed in an apartment in the city centre and shared a room, and it was €470 each to share the room,” the Film and New Media student said.
She said that was a "bad situation" and that she and her fellow tenants encountered "a lot of issues with the letting agency" with no hot water on many occasions and drug users in their hallways.
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