Dublin region

IGS in Dublin will range between £50 and £60 for five days, and £60 and £77 for seven days. It is possible to get cheaper digs, the further you go outside the city, but travel costs will increase accordingly. There are fewer and fewer flats and bed-sits available, and prices are increasing all the time. Sharing a flat will cost from £40 to £50 per person. For similar prices, a group of students could rent a house together with far better facilities.

Many colleges already have lists of accommodation available; otherwise try the evening paper, and get going as quickly as you can. From early- to mid- September you may find yourself waiting in lengthy queues. Choices are more limited and students can end up paying more than they had intended or possibly living some distance from their college.

Trinity College Dublin does not offer on-campus accommodation to first years, but accommodation is available in Trinity Hall, Dartry Road, Rathgar, about three miles from the city centre. A single room costs £1,564 for October to May, with a break over the Christmas period; it's payable in two instalments of £759 and £805. Accommodation in a twin room costs £1,186 for the same period, in instalments of £577 and £609, and students can stay on for their end-of-year exams by paying an additional daily rate. These prices include central heating and hot water.

All students who are entitled to a place and who live away from the city automatically receive accommodation details from the college and an application form for rooms, which should be returned as soon a possible.

The students union operates a comprehensive accommodation advice service, including lists of digs.

University College Dublin students' union is advising first years to get digs this year, which may not be their first choice, but which might be all they can afford. There is a list of accommodation options at the office.

A number of places are reserved for first year students in on-campus accommodation at Belfield (tel: (01) 2693244). Expect to pay up to £1,690 for the year, payable in two instalments for Belgrave and Mervill. Twin and single rooms cost the same. The Blackrock student residence has 174 single rooms with shared kitchens, bathrooms and dining rooms for £1,520, payable in two equal instalments. In Roebuck Hall, sharing a three-bedroom apartment costs £1,520 a year and a single room costs £1,690.

At Dublin City University, on-campus accommodation is already pre-booked and there is a sizeable waiting list. The college's accommodation office has an off-campus housing list, available to all students.

The Tallaght IT students' union assists students in every way possible to find suitable accommodation. It has a list of shared housing and digs, and a few apartments. Aa a room in a house can cost up to £50, first years are advised to go for the more economical digs option.

The DIT student services office compiles a list of digs, selfcatering and rented accommodation options, and is available from today. It will send the list out to students who 'phone in. The NCAD students' union has a database of students looking for someone to share with. It arranges dates for students to meet up and look around at houses and flats together. It also has a list of local accommodation, including digs, and guidelines on tenants' rights and a check list of things to look for in a flat. The rates for all accommodation for students is standardised in Maynooth by the college's accommodation office (tel: (01) 708 3826) and its long-serving accommodation officer Marie T Kelly is, sadly, retiring this year.

Accommodation in Maynooth's on-campus apartments costs £40 a week, paid in two installments of £720. About 40 apartments are held for first years, but be warned, there is already a huge waiting list. Accommodation at the Auxilia Girls' Hostel, including breakfast and an evening meal, costs £70 a week, payable in two instalments of £1,050 with a £100 deposit. Again, there is a significant waiting list, but it's worth enquiring about. Off campus, digs this year will cost £69 for a full week and £54 for a five day week. Self-catering, where students live in a family home but make their own meals, costs £29 for a single room and £27 sharing. The college distributes a housing list on May 1st, so students can sort out their accommodation before they go home for the summer. First-years are expected to come up to college as soon as they are offered a place and get their list. Competition for flats and houses has increased over the last couple of years with employees at Intel and Hewlett Packard vying for accommodation. The price of off-campus rented accommodation varies, and it doesn't come cheap.

Limerick

On-campus accommodation at the University of Limerick is totally booked out, with a considerable waiting list. There is a first-year allocation of between 100 and 150 places. Prospective first-years tend to book their accommodation at the university's open day during Easter. Once a college place has been offered, the students are given their accommodation. Plassey Village costs £1,500 a year, sharing an eight-bedroom house. Paid in two instalments, the fee covers gas, electricity, a television licence, rubbish collection and general maintenance. At Kilmurry Village, single rooms cost £1,600, again paid in two instalments. On-campus accommodation is a very popular choice among students at UL.

The university is surrounded by housing estates, so off-campus students tend either to choose digs or share a house. This year, first-year students will receive a housing information pack in the post the day the first round offers go out.

According to Frances McNamara, the off-campus accommodation officer at UL, there will be an accommodation open day this Friday, August 28th. Landlords will be in their houses and students are advised to come up for viewings.

The college recommends £50 to £60 for five days in digs and £60 to £70 for seven days. Student accommodation is also available in a number of hostels and residences. Park Lodge, on the Dublin Road, offers similar accommodation to the off-campus facilities (tel: (061) 400404). Alternatively try the Broad Street Hostel in the city (tel: (061) 317222), Clyde House (tel: (061) 401364), Castleville Study Centre (tel: (061) 331223), Barringtons Lodge (tel: (061) 415222/ 417644) and the Salesian Brothers hostel which has vacancies for 36 males.

At Limerick IT, both the students' union and the pastoral services office can assist students seeking accommodation.

Galway

At the time of writing there were 60 single rooms left at NUI Galway's student accommodation at Corrib Village (tel: (091) 527112). These single rooms cost £2,089 for the academic year and things are moving fast, so make your enquiries as soon as you can. Off-campus digs will be in or around £70 per week for seven days, and about £55 for five days, with a deposit of £150 being quite standard. Self-catering is expected to be in the region of £45 this year.

Galway is said to be bursting with new accommodation, but rents are expensive. There has also been a certain amount of strife between residents and students in recent years - due largely to differences of opinion surrounding acceptable noise levels and working/sleeping hours. Two students sharing a one-bedroom flat will have to pay between £100 and £120 a week. Houses with up to three bedrooms are a lot more economical. With rents of between £130 and £150 a week, there is enough space for up to five students to share the bill. Two-bedroom apartments which sleep four tend to cost much the same. Deposits for flats and houses should be around £100 per student. Margaret Faherty is the accommodation officer at UCG. "We don't advise bed-sits, especially for first-year students. The standard tends not to be up to scratch and you can end up being very lonely."

The accommodation office keeps an list which is updated on a daily basis, including Saturdays. "We advise first-years to bring their parents along for some assistance if they are looking for accommodation for the first time," she says. "We also provide a booklet with detailed information on renting, and we advise students to take out insurance to cover personal property, and to take lease agreements seriously. They are legally binding, so never sign on someone else's behalf."

Another good source of accommodation information is the Galway Advertiser, published every Thursday. Cunning students will be seen at the newspapers' main office on Wednesdays at 3 p.m., where an accommodation list can be had for 20p.

The Galway-Mayo IT chaplaincy provides lists of accommodation as well as offering general advice on accommodation seeking. Renmore, Ballybane, Mervue and Merlin Park are popular with students and the college's official accommodation notice board is opposite the door to Red Square. The accommodation list will be available from today. First-year students are advised to go into digs, self-catering or hostel accommodation until they settle into college.

Cork

University College Cork, now has seven student complexes in operation. Castlewhite (tel: (021) 2786871, ext 2867) is on-campus and owned by UCC. It is currently booked out, except for the places reserved for Irish-speaking students. Interviews for these rooms will be held after college places have been taken up.

Privately-owned residences include Brookfield (tel: (021) 344032), four minutes away; Abbey Wharf (tel: (021) 821644); Abbey Ville (tel: (021) 346346); South Terrace Court (tel: (021) 312363); The Village (tel: (021) 345344); Baymara (tel: (021) 346565); Mount Grange (tel: (021) 522033) and North Quay Place (tel: (088) 530967). All are between 10 and 30 minutes away from college. Together they offer almost 1,500 places for students.

Prices range from £1,150 a year, sharing, and go up to £2,000 for a single room. There is a booking deposit of between £75 and £200. Most keep a number of rooms for first-year students although you would need to get on the case pretty fast at this stage if you want to secure a place.

Off campus, digs range from £50, sharing a room, for a five-day week, and £77 for a seven-day week. A single room will probably be a bit dearer. There is a huge scramble for rented accommodation starting at the end of August, but the noticeboard at the accommodation office tends to be choc-a-bloc with house shares in particular, and while you may have to shop around a bit, in the end everyone gets housed. Expect to pay approximately £30 a week to share a room, and £40 a week for your own room. The accommodation office provides details of vacancies on a noticeboard outside the office and leaflets containing advice on tenants rights etc are also available. Cork IT provides a list of lodgings and self-catering accommodation through its accommodation service. Digs range from £42.50, sharing, for five days, to £70 for a single room for seven days. Self-catering works out at about £10 to £15 cheaper. The accommodation office also has a small list of purpose-built student apartments. Located about five minutes walk away from the campus, they cost approximately £45 to £50 a week.

There is no rented accommodation list available this year, as so few landlords submitted lists of vacancies. But the college advises students to try the Evening Echo - and to get going as quickly as possible.

Other areas:

Accommodation rates tend to be lower outside major cities, but availability can be a bit more limited. Most colleges send intending first-year students information on accommodation when they are offered a place, and students can contact their students' union or student service office directly.

Athlone

The Students' Union at Athlone IT runs a full service on accommodation with colour-coded lists of digs, self-catering and rented accommodation available. There are no difficulties getting accommodation in Athlone. Digs range from £45 for five days, and £60 for seven days. Self-catering is between £30 for five days and £40 for seven days and sharing a rented house costs between £25 and £30 per week. Housing lists are done up for both campuses at Athlone; maps, guidelines on tenants' rights and a checklist are all available in a pack put together by the students' union.

Carlow

Here is an accommodation officer available at Carlow IT to facilitate students seeking to make accommodation arrangements. First-years are sent out an information pack which includes guidelines, a map and a list of options, when they are offered a place. Students are encouraged to contact the accommodation officer to discuss their accommodation requirements. First-years usually go into digs. This costs about £40 for five days, and an extra £15 for students who stay the weekend. Sharing a house works out at about £30 a week. An information day will be held on September 4th. Students and their parents are welcome to come see what's on offer and make bookings.

Dundalk

The Students' Union at Dundalk IT advises students to get searching for accommodation as soon as they are offered a place at the college. There is never a shortage of places, but you will have a better choice if you go looking soon. Most first-years go into digs. Five days in digs costs between £45 and £47 approximately, and £52 to £55 for seven days. Sharing a house or flat costs around £30 a week, with deposits of about £100.

Letterkenny

Letterkenny IT offers a list of accommodation through the students union for all incoming students - and digs, in particular, are quite plentiful. For those interested in starting early, a number of bus firms operate daily services to and from Dublin and Galway, in addition to Bus Eireann and various weekend services. Five-day digs with half-board cost about £40 to £45. A flat is likely to cost about £25 to £30 per week (plus heat, electricity etc), depending on the number of people sharing. Six students sharing a four-bed semi could also expect to pay about £25 each per week. Availability is relatively good for both, but there is tight competition for good housing once the semester has started.

The student services office compile a list of available accomodation at the beginning of each semester and update it throughout the year.

A development of purpose-built student apartments called Celtic Apartments (tel: (074) 24203) consists of 39 two and threebedroom units, each with a fitted kitchen including dishwasher, cooker, etc. The cost of renting accommodation in this development works out at around £25 a week with five to six people sharing.

Sligo

The Student services office at Sligo IT provides a comprehensive accommodation service. While first-years still tend to opt for digs, according to the student union president, Jude Devis, more and more seem to be settling quickly into the new environment and moving out and into rented accommodation by Christmas. Competition for houses is pretty high. The Sligo Champion comes out on Wednesdays with a list of accommodation to rent. Under the urban-renewal scheme there are a lot of apartments being built, but prices tend to be beyond students' means. Students are advised to contact the college for an accommodation list. Digs cost between £40 and £45 for five days and £55 for seven days.

Tralee

The Students' Union at Tralee IT provides a list of accommodation, information and advice on renting and a book of guidelines. Expect to pay between £40 and £50 for digs for five days, with and extra charge for students who stay the weekend. House-sharing costs between £25 and £35 per week, depending on the standard of the accommodation.

Waterford

Waterford IT offers on-campus accommodation at approximately £38 a week. Application forms are available from John Rockett, Waterford IT, Cork Road, Waterford. Students have separate en-suite bedrooms in four-bedroomed apartments. Twenty places are kept for first years.

Students looking for digs should contact the pastoral care service. Prices vary: £45 to £55 for five days and from £60 for seven days. The students' union has a list of self-catering and rented accommodation. During the summer the union held a housing conference to which landlords, residents' associations and the Garda where invited to discuss issues relevant to students. Arising out of this conference the students union has drawn up a policy document, available to all students.

Prices fluctuate between £25 and £35 a week, sharing a house. There is a noticeboard for students who want to share. According to the students' union, there seems to be adequate availability, although it is advisable to go looking as soon as possible. Students are also advised to make an appointment with the accommodation officer, who will assist them.