University urged to stop students making estates ‘look like a slum’

THE University of Limerick (UL) has been urged to increase its efforts to prevent students from making neighbouring housing estates “look like a slum”.

Plassey Residents’ Association chairman, Joseph O’Shea, has requested UL president Don Barry to address the behaviour of students engaging in anti-social behaviour in Milford Grange, Milford Close, Hazelwood and Elm Park.

Mr O’Shea said: “The main problem is the pattern of binge drinking adopted by many students who, in order to save money, buy cheap spirits and beer at an off-license, bring it to their house or flat, get fairly drunk and head for pubs or clubs to top up and meet equally drunk companions.

“They are rowdy, destructive and threatening as they head out around 10pm and are worse on the way back. On the way back, they feel free to urinate and defecate in public, to strip aerials, hubcaps, and mirrors from cars, remove street signs, overturn bins, throw eggs at cars and houses, smash bottles and drink glasses on the road and litter the place with takeaway containers and used contraceptives,” he said.

“In two successive years, the late-night bus services from Limerick to the university have been terminated because of students who have vandalised the buses. Starting with rag week, students in rented accommodation drag furniture onto the roofs of garages and onto the lawns or greens in front of their house,” he said.

“They settle down to drink and listen to loud music. The combined effect of the litter, glass-damaged lawns and tatty furniture makes the neighbourhood look like a slum,” he added.

Mr O’Shea noted the university pledged to improve the level of interaction between students and community groups in its latest strategic plan.

A university spokeswoman said they worked with local gardaí, Limerick County Council and the Students’ Union providing a number of initiatives to minimise disruption to the community during the college’s recent rag week.

She said: “This initiative commenced in 2010 and was acknowledged by the gardaí as a great help to them in addressing disruptive or noisy behaviour in nearby estates and ensuring that litter was collected each night.

“It is unfortunate that despite all these initiatives a minority of students living locally caused some disruption to their neighbours.

“While a number of on-the-spot fines were issued for public drinking and littering, no arrests were made by gardaí and no assaults reported during the week,” she said.