‘Students Need Certainty Over Accommodation’ – Kimmins

Sinn Féin MLA for Newry and Armagh, Liz Kimmins has called on Queen’s University to urgently resolve the ‘limbo’ that many students now face after being denied accommodation they were previously offered.

Commenting on the situation Liz stated:

“With students beginning to return to class next week, it is totally unacceptable that they are being left in limbo over agreed accommodation due to poor planning and a greater uptake in student places.

“While I appreciate that efforts are being made by Queen’s University to source alternative accommodation, students should never have been left in this situation in the first place”.

Liz echoed the words of her assembly colleague, John O’Dowd MLA stating that:

“I am calling on Queen’s to engage with students and parents and ensure that students are being offered suitable accommodation that meets their social and educational needs.

“In previous years, Queen’s guaranteed accommodation places for first year students and I would suggest that Queens return to applying that criteria in the future as many used this opportunity to build friendships and organise housemates for their next year’s study. 

“In the absence of the issue being resolved immediately, my colleague, John O’Dowd MLA has written to the Infrastructure Minister to request that Translink provides additional services for students to travel to and from their university campus particularly during the start of term.” 

ENDS/CRÍOCH