Hundreds of Students in Ireland are Homeless
Hundreds of Students in Ireland are Homeless
Text: Izzy Copestake
The actual number of homelessness is likely much higher than recorded.
Data obtained from a Freedom of Information act has revealed that hundreds of students in Ireland’s third-level institutions are homeless. In the 2024-2025 academic year, at least 346 students reported being homeless to their higher education institutions.
However, this number is likely much higher. Indeed, many of the largest universities in Ireland do not count or record how many of their students are homeless. What’s more, even the third-level institutions which do record homelessness rely on voluntary disclosure which distorts the figures even more.
The president of AMLÉ/the Union of Students in Ireland, Bryan O’Mahony, has warned that the official number is “merely the tip of the iceberg” and the true level of homeless students is “largely hidden.
In response to the Freedom of Information request, The Journal reported that a total of 7 third-level institutions could not provide data on levels of homelessness among students, citing a lack of centralised data collection on the issue. These institutions are: University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, University College Cork, Mary Immaculate College, and Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). They also reported that the Dundalk Institute of Technology did not respond to the request for information.
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