Two University College Dublin students have told of the horrors they face due to the deepening housing crisis.
Austin, a computer science student, and Shane, who is studying maths, spent all summer looking for a place to stay. Between them, they sent hundreds of emails and got less than five responses which were all rejections.
Shane, who is from Longford, was considering driving his car to UCD at the start of the week and sleeping in his car on campus before he got lucky with a bed in digs in Blanchardstown. Austin wasn't so lucky and is still looking for a place to stay.
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After starting college last week, Austin told Dublin Live he is taking it day by day and has even resorted to sleeping outside near the UCD campus. He said: "I've been in Dublin and I am just taking the nights as they come.
"I've stayed over at a friend's place one or two nights and the other nights I've just found a hiding spot just outside and then chilled there. I bought a tent so I should be okay whenever it arrives."
He added: "I don't think it is sustainable." UCD students previously requested permission to set up tents on campus.
Austin "hopes" he won't have to spend the winter living in a tent but he is concerned he will have no other option if he cannot take some of his lectures online. He said: "The teachers are really trying to make it clear that they don't want us doing it online from home which makes no sense to me because I would be able to save money and do more study if I was actually at home and doing my work properly."
Austin's course requires him to be on campus five days a week and he works in Dublin at the weekends. However, he is trying to get another job at the moment that better suits his needs.
He said: "I am trying to get a night job so on the days I am in college I can work through the night so I don't have to be on the streets. I'd be able to sleep in the daytime in an office somewhere or something.
"The gym has a shower so I am really lucky I can use that.
He added: "The holidays were pretty stressful because I kept on thinking about how I didn't have things sorted yet.
Austin and Shane were planning on getting a house together with a few friends before Shane found a spot in digs. Shane said: "It was very stressful....it came to a point where I was sending ten emails a day for five days in a row and got no responses. I maybe got one that said it wasn't available."
It came to the end of the summer and they had not found a place to rent. Shane had just got his license so his plan was to drive up to UCD and sleep in the car on campus.
He said: My plan was to drive up on the Monday which is a two hour drive from Longford. It's tough. My idea was to drive here [UCD] and essentially sleep in the car on campus for a few days and then go back whenever I can.
During their first year of study, both Austin and Shane managed to get a place in the on campus accommodation but they found this "drained" their savings. Shane worked part-time in a supermarket for three years during secondary school to save up for college.
However, all that money disappeared after his first year - largely because of the €830 a month he was paying for on campus accommodation. Austin also stayed on campus last year and was paying €1,200 a month which his family had to take a loan out to afford.
Shane adds that the situation has gotten so bad that students have resorted to sleeping outside. He said: "People have just been finding places that are dry for the night".
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