More US students coming to Ireland to escape Trump's America despite housing crisis

As more Americans pick Ireland over home universities, students face high rents and scarce housing alongside cultural and political change

Jack Grindley is part of a growing number of Americans choosing to study in Ireland. Photo: Paulo Nunes dos Santos/Bloomberg

When Jack Grindley saw Yale University students being arrested at pro-Palestine protests in his native New Haven last year, he began thinking about going abroad to study. The 17-year-old landed on Ireland.

“I’m less worried about speaking my mind,” the incoming University College Dublin fresher said of his new home. “Especially given how Trump is trying to intervene in our education system.”