College authorities are considering running shuttle buses from the county’s commuter towns in an attempt to deal with the city’s crippling accommodation crisis.

As a significant proportion of Galway’s almost 3,500 Leaving Certificate students nervously open first round CAO offers this morning (Thursday), attention turns to accommodation for the thousands of new entrants at University of Galway (UG), Atlantic Technical University (ATU) and other third level providers in the city.

President of UG Students’ Union Sai Gujulla said they were braced this week for an onslaught of enquiries from panicked first years and their parents as they scrambled for beds in a market where just 14 properties were available to rent yesterday (Wednesday).

“This is definitely one of the worst crises we’ve seen in recent years. We’ve had so many students in touch with us desperately looking for a house or somewhere to stay,” said Mr Gujulla.

As reported previously by the Connacht Tribune, the university has recommended students look to areas like Tuam, Oughterard, An Spidéal and Bearna, but Mr Gujulla said poor public transport links in these areas left it an inadequate option, particularly for first years.

“The Students’ Union has proposed to the university that they should run commuter buses from these places to the city and that is still under consideration by the university. They are open to the idea,” said Mr Gujulla.

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