News
Rent hikes may force students to defer college courses
Rents in Galway have hit Celtic Tiger levels again, prompting a warning that some prospective students will be forced to defer their college courses.
The warning came from economist Ronan Lyons this week with the release of a new report on rents from property website Daft.ie which also highlights a serious lack of available accommodation.
Rents being charged for private accommodation in the city are now on a par with the height of the economic boom in 2008.
Mr Lyons warned that many young people on a high after their Leaving Cert are destined to have their “spirits crushed” because of the situation in rental market.
At the moment, rents in the city are averaging €932 per month, which is a 13.9% increase on the same time last year.
The figure is also on a par with the €933 per month average which was hit in Galway in the third quarter of 2008.
Economist Ronan Lyons has warned that unless there is a significant take-up under the ‘rent-a-room’ scheme – which allows homeowners to earn up to €12,000 tax free per annum – students from outside urban areas will be forced to defer their courses.
“The class of 2016 are really stuck between a rock and a hard place. They’re low income newcomers to the most competitive areas of the housing market because the colleges they’re attending are mostly city-based.
“The majority can only afford to let for nine months instead of the standard twelve and don’t have the stable earnings or references of a full-time professional. In the private rental sector right now, it’s unlikely they’ll get a viewing, let alone a lease. This situation in the general market is not going to change over the next few weeks.
“College authorities, students unions and Government need to promote college digs as a priority over the next few weeks to make sure Irish homeowners are informed of how they can contribute to solving this crisis and the cash flow gains to be made.
“Otherwise many young people coming from outside urban areas — who don’t live near a university and can’t shoulder the costs of a long, pricey commute — will have to defer their college courses this September,” said Mr Lyons.
The Daft.ie report shows that in Galway City, rents are up 41.6% since they ‘bottomed out’ in late 2011.
A breakdown of the figures for the city shows one-bed apartments are renting for an average of €672 (up 10.7%); €773 for a two-bed house (up 15.1%); €936 for a three-bed (up 12.1%); €1,017 for a four-bed (up 13.2%) and €1,258 per month for a five-bed, which is an increase of 20.9%.
Other figures in the report show that under the ‘Rent a Room’ scheme, a single bed in the city centre is renting for an average of €347 per month (up 7.4%); and a double bed for €416 (up 10.6%).
In the suburbs, single beds are averaging €311 (up 5.8%) per month and double beds €373 (up 11%).
Meanwhile, in the county, monthly rents are averaging €631 – that’s up 7% on last year, and almost 24% since the bottom of the market.
A breakdown of figures for the county show that a one-bed apartment now rents for an average of €451 (up 2.8% over the past year); a two-bed house for €512 (up 5%); a three-bed house for €620 (up 2.3%); a four-bed house €674 (up 3.3%) and a five-bed house for €767 (up 10.3%).
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
