Page 7 - ELG2207 Jul Issue 481

NEWS
Ireland’s student numbers have

outgrown the number of beds available

By Melanie Butler
Engineer Amanda Nogueira was
one of 30 Brazilians studying
English in Ireland who spent two PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK
months sleeping in the basement
bar of a Dublin nightclub before
being moved by her Brazilian
landlord to a mouldy two-
bedroom flat she shares with 10
other students. With only 1,400
flat shares to rent in the whole
of Ireland, according to a report
in the Irish Examiner, the housing
situation is likely to get worse,
especially in September when
a new cohort of international
students is due to arrive.
Amanda, who works as a
hotel cleaner to help cover the
€450 a month she pays to share
a bunk bed in a room holding
five other students, told national
broadcaster RTÉ News, “I’m from
Brazil. It’s a third-world county.
So I never expected to meet serious ramifications for the Irish visa to enter the country to study, peak season began would present
this here. I never expected to be education sector as a whole,” and are attracted by the growing severe problems for the sector.
exploited in this way.” she warned. choice of language schools and “What we’d like to see is the
ICOS, the Irish council for Although students from the EU, work rights for long-stay language government extend the visas for
International students, which co- particularly the junior market, still students. Young adults from that another six months,” he said in
operated with the broadcaster’s make up the majority of enrolment country make up the biggest May, the month in which most
investigation, has been helping in Ireland’s language schools, the contingent of Latin Americans, student visas lapse. “This will
students like Amanda make official long-haul, long-stay market, mostly which also include Mexicans, affect businesses and people
complaints about their landlords, from Latin America and East Asia, Chileans and Venezuelans heading across the country.”
many of whom, like Amanda’s, has been growing steadily. In 2019, to the Republic every year. Fiachra O’Luain, founder of
have been operating illegally. the year before the pandemic, The numbers mean that some the English Language Students
ICOS executive director Irish language schools enrolled sectors of the Irish economy Union, also made a direct plea for
Laura Harmon has called on the over 15,000 Brazilians, making it have become quite dependent on visa extensions to Justice Minister
government to update legislation the second top destination for this them. Calling for an extension Helen McEntee. “Ireland cannot
on overcrowding which is no nationality, topped only by Canada. to student Stamp 2 visas, which afford to lose the critical labour
longer fit for purpose. Harmon Links between the tiny EU allows language students to study capacity during the high season…
believes that the country’s country and the Latin American and work in the Republic for up when these students are allowed
accommodation crisis “…is also giant are strong. One in three of to two years, Adrian Cummins, to work full time,” he said,
having an impact on Ireland’s the population of the small town of the Restaurant Association of pointing out that many use the
reputation abroad as a study of Gort near Galway are Brazilian. Ireland, warned that removing money to fund their future studies
destination. This could have Brazilian nationals do not require a thousands of workers just as the in the country.

Teachers also needed

It’s not only accommodation which is in short supply in Ireland – it’s also teachers. Over half of the 11 employers in Ireland currently
advertising on one job site for staff to start immediately are actively looking to recruit from the UK, with their adverts all making clear
that “UK nationals do not need a visa or residency permit to live or work in Ireland”.
But with shared rented accommodation hard to find (see above) how will teachers coming from the UK, or from EU member states,
find a place to stay?
Four employers are running the kind of residential summer schools familiar in Britain, but fairly new in the Republic.
Accommodation is, of course, included, though rates of pay seem less generous than non-residential jobs. One employer is advertising
the exact same terms and conditions in Ireland as those in its UK centres, which is odd, given that Irish labour laws are very different.
Two of the non-residential Irish schools actively recruiting from the UK are offering help with accommodation. Both are also
offering the possibility of permanent full-time jobs after the summer – an prospect rarely seen in the UK.
A word of warning though: the Irish are much stricter than the British Council when it comes to teacher qualifications. A first
degree is a must, while Celta, Trinity and Ireland’s Celta course are the only certificates they accept.

editorial@elgazette.com 7