Students unable to secure any sort of accommodation in Galway are being forced to commute from as far away as Donegal and Dublin – only to find there are no parking spaces left on campus when they arrive.

It’s the latest chapter in an endless catalogue of woes for thousands of students this year, with at least a handful every day finding their vehicles clamped – despite pleas that they are unable to afford the €60 fine to get the clamp removed falling on deaf ears.

Hostels remain full in the city as students are still unable to secure accommodation, which in the past has freed up after the initial frenzy for first years died down.

Students’ Union President at University of Galway Sai Gujulla said the situation for students is unlikely to improve this year unless university management agree to reintroduce hybrid learning to ease the burden of the accommodation crisis.

“My friend is commuting from Dublin, I know several students driving from Donegal and Sligo. The worst is the parking. Unless they are in by 8am for a 9am lecture they won’t get student parking. And on a rainy, windy morning like this morning – it’s more like 7am,” he revealed.

“Even today I saw three students being clamped as I came in, which is a regular occurrence, they were arguing that they had to use the staff parking which was empty because the student parking was full. But it doesn’t work. They pay for a student parking pass but they seem to issue way more passes than spaces. This year space is at a real premium.”

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.