Rural families more successful in college grant applications

Applicants in rural Ireland have more success in getting a college grant compared to their Dublin counterparts.

According to figures from Susi, published in today's Irish Times, Longford has the highest success rate at 71.5%, followed by Carlow, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal.

By contrast, just 45.6% of students in Dublin get the grant they are looking for.

Susi is reportedly preparing to conduct research on the breakdown of the figures once this year's applications have all been processed.

Previous research showed that nearly 40% of farmers are approved for a grant for their sons or daughters.

Spokesman for the Irish Farmers Association Tom Doyle said that the figures simply highlight the reality facing his group's members.

"To qualify for a grant, a family with less than four children must have an income of less than €52,000," he said.

"The average farm income is less than half of that, so it's not surprising that farmers would fall into the category of qualifying"

"The reality is the system is showing up that farm incomes are very low"