(Members of the Students’ Union Protest at Eyre Square. 1 September 2026. Credit: @welfare_cmlog [Instagram])
On the first night of September, students pitched tents in the heart of Galway city. It wasn’t a festival. It was a warning.
Across the tents in Eyre Square, handwritten signs read “Affordable Housing Now” and “Housing is a Human Right“. Another, propped up on the grass, asked a much simpler question: “Food or Rent?“
As the new academic year approaches, the University of Galway Students’ Union organised the sleep-out to shine a light on an accommodation crisis that has become an all-too-familiar part of student life in the city – a crisis that has been driven to breaking point.
(Protesters’ signs and tents as they prepare to camp out in Eyre Square. 1 September 2026. Credit: @uniofgalwaysu [Instagram])
Earlier in the afternoon, students gathered at the Quadrangle before marching through Galway city and into Eyre Square, carrying banners, flags and placards reading “We’re Fed Up”, “Housing is a Human Right”, “We’re Broke & Burnfoot” and “Lóistín Do Chách”. By nightfall, tents, sleeping bags and blankets had taken their place on the grass.
The protest comes at a time when thousands of students are preparing to return to Galway for another academic year.
For many incoming first years, a CAO offer marks the end of months of waiting. They have the points. They have the course. They have their place at university. What some still do not have is somewhere to live.
Ahead of the protest, Students’ Union President Seán de Búrca said students are being forced into lengthy daily commutes, paying extortionate rents, sleeping on friends’ couches and relying on hostels because they cannot secure accommodation in Galway.
Rooms advertised in Galway can cost upwards of €750 a month, while temporary accommodation can leave students paying considerably more. For international students without a family home to return to, temporary accommodation cannot remain temporary forever.
Domestic students are facing their own choices: pay increasingly high rents, spend hours commuting to and from Galway each day, rely on digs or friends or reconsider whether studying in the city is financially possible at all.
And yet, Galway is building new student accommodation. Queen Street Place, a new eight-storey development in the city centre, is providing 345 student beds this September. It includes study rooms, a gym and fitness studio, cinema room and rooftop terraces.
On paper, it is exactly what a city short of student accommodation needs. The cheapest rooms, however, start at approximately €295 per week. That is close to €1,200 every four weeks, before food, transport, college costs or any of the other expenses that come with student life are considered.
(Protesters settle in for a night of camping in Eyre Square. 1 September 2026. Credit: @eibhlinseoigthe [Instagram])
For students already struggling with the cost of living, the existence of a bed does not necessarily mean that bed is within reach. Galway is not a city without bedrooms. The question is how many of those bedrooms are available to the people who need to live here and at a price they can really afford.
The Students’ Union is calling for an overhaul of the National Student Accommodation Strategy, stronger enforcement of short-term letting rules and greater protections for students living in digs.
The University of Galway has said it is “deeply conscious” of the accommodation and cost-of-living challenges facing students.
In a statement, the university pointed to its Accommodation Advisory Service, StudentPad and efforts to encourage homeowners to rent spare rooms to students.
It said it would “dearly like” to see more accommodation available to students in Galway at a reasonable price and of a good standard.
But the distinction between available and affordable has become increasingly difficult to ignore. A room advertised for rent is of little use to a student who cannot afford it. A purpose-built student bed is not a solution for someone priced out of it. A hostel can provide a roof for tonight, but it cannot provide the security of knowing where you will be living next month. That is what made the sight in Eyre Square so stark.
The accommodation crisis is usually discussed through figures: rents, bed spaces, planning applications, supply and demand. In Eyre Square, those figures became tents.
For incoming first years, university is supposed to begin with the excitement of getting an offer and discovering what comes next. Instead, for some arriving in Galway, one question has overtaken almost everything else.
Where am I going to live?
A CAO offer can give you a place at university. In Galway, it still cannot guarantee you a place to sleep.
(Protesters’ gather with signs and tents as they march from the University of Galway to Eyre Square to camp out. 1 September 2026. Credit: @uniofgalwaysu [Instagram])
Eamon Chin is a Multimedia Reporter for SIN. He is a first-year journalism student at the University of Galway. He is passionate about reporting on current affairs in student life, social issues, and local news affecting young people. Outside the newsroom, he enjoys music, creating digital content, and travelling.