Latest news with #MichaelRoche
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘We are sleeping in cars and serial couch-surfing': Dublin students appeal to homeowners to rent out rooms
On a busy summer morning, Dublin commuters were being approached by eager students' union officers in a 'last-ditch effort to get some rooms' for incoming college goers. 'We have people who sleep in cars and serial couch surfers,' said University College Dublin (UCD) students' union president Michael Roche, who was on the canvass at St Stephen's Green. – In recent weeks, he said, there has been an influx of queries from concerned students and parents about housing for the year ahead. 'For international students and first years who are quite new to Dublin's rental market, there can also be exploitative situations or scams where people just don't have the knowledge of the market that returning students do,' Mr Roche said. READ MORE Recent figures showed UCD has the State's most expensive on-campus rooms . Mr Roche said that situation has left 'a lot of people locked out' in their search for accommodation. An en-suite room in village three on the college's Belfield campus costs €11,888 for the academic year. The cheapest on-campus option at UCD is a shared bedroom in village one at €5,722. UCD students' union has joined forces with the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology (IADT) for a digs drive aimed at addressing the 'chronic shortage of rental accommodation' in the capital. Emilia O'Hagan, UCD welfare officer, was among the students' union officers urging people to consider accommodation tax-breaks. Photograph: Tommy Clancy [ Where will vital student housing come from? Opens in new window ] Commuters passing St Stephen's Green Luas station from 7am on Tuesday were handed flyers encouraging them to avail of the Revenue Commissioners' rent-a-room relief scheme that allows homeowners earn up to €14,000 tax-free for letting out a spare room in their home. The student representatives were due to gather again on Tuesday evening at bus and Luas stops around the city to push their appeal. UCD students' union campaign and engagement officer Hazen E Griffin has experience of the challenges of finding accommodation as an international student in Dublin. Arriving from the US, Mr Griffin said he was shocked at the housing crisis in Ireland and spent the summer couch-surfing while struggling to find a place to live for the upcoming academic year. It had taken a 'serious' toll on his mental health, he said. 'This is the experience of countless students,' Mr Griffin said. 'This is a last-ditch effort to get some rooms for students who are coming in the next two weeks to study at Irish universities.' Welfare officer Emilia O'Hagan, from Co Down, lived and worked 'upwards of 50 hours a week' in a Dublin boarding school during second year when no other accommodation options were available. 'Looking back, that was a really messed up situation for someone in their second year of college,' she said. 'I was only 19 and basically mothering over 30 children. I was on call all night ... any social life was out the window.' The digs drive 'is quite personal to me', she said, describing how she failed exams due to the demands of her work and living arrangement. Shreyansh Jagtap from Mumbai, India, said living in digs has positively transformed his college experience. Mr Jagtap lives with a family in Ongar, west Dublin, who have rented a room to him for €600 a month for the last year. 'They have kids, so it's like a family for me here. It's giving mental support plus a good space,' he said. One 'perk' of the digs arrangement, he said, has been the home-cooked meals included in the rent. Now the students' union's graduate officer, Mr Jagtap said he has seen how renting in Dublin was '10 times harder' than in Mumbai. 'Mumbai is also expensive, but not this much,' he said.
Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Students warned to be wary of accommodation scams as union asks homeowners to rent a room
Students are being warned to be wary of bogus letting agents ahead of the first round of college places being offered next week. With results of this year's Leaving Certificate being released on Friday, the first round of college offers will be made on Wednesday next, August 27. Although many would-be first-year students may already have secured accommodation, it is expected there will be a rush for rooms from next week. The Property Services Regulatory Authority is currently urging students to ensure they check if any letting agent they think of using is licensed. A statement from the PRSA said: 'During the accommodation search, students may encounter bogus letting agents who attempt to exploit them by fraudulently extracting financial payments. These bogus agents may operate online and falsely claim to hold a valid PSRA licence number, making it essential for students to thoroughly check the legitimacy of any agent they encounter.' The authority advises students to: Request to see the licence: When engaging with a property services provider, always ask to see their licence. This is a credit card sized licence featuring the licensee's name, photograph, the licence categories, the expiry date and a unique PSRA licence number — a six- or 12-digit code that always begins with double zero; Check the licence number: Verify the licence number is valid by cross-referencing it with the PSRA Register of Licensed Property Services Providers, available at This step confirms the provider's details are up-to-date and legitimate. The warning comes as UCD's students' union launched a campaign on Tuesday targeting homeowners in Dublin's commuter belt to open up their homes to third-level students. It is urging homeowners with spare rooms to make them available to students 'under reasonable terms and conditions'. The union says such a move could result in homeowners being able to benefit from the Rent-a-Room Relief Scheme, through which they can earn up to €14,000 per year tax-free. UCDSU welfare officer Emilia O'Hagan said: 'There's a win-win here for students and homeowners alike. We're also asking those considering opening their homes to students to do so on a fair and reasonable basis. Unfortunately, we have seen a growth in rooms being offered for five days only, and set at a price of what you imagine a full week would cost.' As well as making a public appeal, officers have distributed flyers at train and bus stations, speaking directly to commuters who may have spare rooms, and sharing stories of students who have benefitted from digs in previous years. UCDSU president Michael Roche said: 'We can only hope that this type of action won't be necessary in Augusts to come but yet again, student representatives are out pleading with the public to step in and provide a platform for students to pursue their education."
Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Cork among most expensive places in country to go to college, study finds
Cork is one of the most expensive places in the country to go to college, with the average costs for students living away from home this year rising to €16,179, a new study has found. Comparison website said that students will be paying €556 more on average this year than last on going to college, while costs have risen by more than €1,000 since 2023. It said the scarcity of rental accommodation is a key factor along with other cost-of-living increases such as grocery prices driving the surge. 'While inflation may have eased, students are still feeling the pinch,' commercial director Eoin Clarke said. 'Private student accommodation costs have surged in the past year, and for many, the cost of college life is now at its highest point yet. Even towns that have traditionally been viewed as affordable are seeing sharp year-on-year increases, making it harder for students to stretch their budgets.' said its analysis of the cost is based on third-level academic fees, student accommodation costs, data on entertainment costs such as the price of a pint and night-club entry, taxis and bus tickets, gym membership, and grocery costs. Nationwide costs While Dublin, Cork and Maynooth are the most expensive places to go to college, with the average cost for the year in Dublin now over €20,000, Letterkenny, Sligo, and Dundalk are the three cheapest towns to go to college. Through various expenses including rent, groceries, utilities, transport, and entertainment, the monthly cost comes to €1,256 in Letterkenny. This compares to €1,897 on average in Dublin according to the research. It said the most significant hikes in student rent in the last year were found in Letterkenny, Carlow, Waterford, Sligo, and Cork as the continued lack of adequate supply drives prices up. The figures came as the UCD Students' Union warned of an acute shortage of student beds just as the first round of CAO offers are due to be issued next week. Its officers made a direct plea around Dublin city centre to homeowners with spare rooms to rent them out to students for the next academic year under reasonable terms and conditions. They pointed out that through the Rent-a-Room Relief Scheme, homeowners can earn up to €14,000 a year tax-free renting their home out to students. 'While Digs-style accommodation may not be everyone's first choice, homeowners stepping up to the plate can be the difference maker for someone's future,' UCDSU president Michael Roche said. 'We can only hope that this type of action won't be necessary in Augusts to come.'
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Historic Aussie-first breakthrough in fight against condition impacting 40 million
In a groundbreaking leap forward in the global fight against HIV, researchers at Melbourne's world-renowned Doherty Institute have developed a revolutionary method that could one day pave the way for a cure, using the same mRNA technology that powered COVID-19 vaccines. This discovery gives fresh hope to the nearly 40 million people around the world living with HIV. While today's treatments can keep the virus under control, they can't remove it completely. That's because HIV hides in a type of white blood cell, staying asleep and undetectable. But if treatment stops, the virus can wake up and spread again. For decades, this hidden "reservoir" has been one of the biggest obstacles to finding a cure. Now, researchers believe they've found a way to reach these sleeping cells and wake the virus up in a safe and controlled way, while the patient is still on their usual medication. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Dr Michael Roche, a Senior Research Fellow at the Doherty Institute, explained how his team used mRNA wrapped inside tiny fat-like bubbles called lipid nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are designed to travel directly to infected cells. Once inside, the mRNA sends instructions to the cell to make a protein called Tat — a natural HIV protein that tells the virus it's time to wake up. "Tat is a protein that helps the virus 'wake up' when the virus wants to," Dr Roche said. "Here we are using Tat to wake the virus up when we want to." This process is often called the "shock and kill" strategy. The idea is to force the virus out of hiding while the patient is still on HIV medication, so the virus can't spread and can instead be targeted and destroyed by the immune system or future therapies. The discovery is still in early stages, but it's the first time mRNA has successfully reached and activated the HIV reservoir in a lab setting. The team's next step is to test the treatment in animal models to check if it's safe and if it works. "We are looking for two signals," Dr Roche said. "Firstly, safety. Secondly, efficacy — whether it can wake up dormant HIV in animals." These trials will take a few years. Only after passing those tests can human trials begin — first to ensure the treatment is safe, and then to test how well it works in people. A key advantage is that this therapy uses the same technology that powered the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. "Our therapeutic is based on the same technology — mRNA and lipid nanoparticles — used in the COVID vaccines," Dr Roche said. "The global rollout of these vaccines has shown that this approach can be scaled and distributed globally." He pointed to a new BioNTech mRNA facility in Rwanda, which is being set up to support production in areas with a high burden of HIV. The team is also focused on making sure the treatment, if successful, can be made affordable and accessible. "We are committed to ensuring any cures we develop are scalable, accessible and affordable," Dr Roche said. Aussies warned over widespread danger emerging in homes Concerning roadside find reveals dangerous trend landing Aussies in hospital Controversial 'alcohol alternative' coming to Woolworths this month In Australia, around 29,000 people are living with HIV. New infections have dropped over the past decade thanks to wider access to HIV prevention medication (PrEP), regular testing, and strong treatment programs. The country recorded its lowest number of new HIV cases in over 20 years in 2022. But some challenges remain. In 2023, there was a slight increase in new cases, mostly among people born overseas and those infected through heterosexual contact. Still, the long-term trend is positive, and now, with this research, a cure no longer feels out of reach. If successful, this approach could one day mean people living with HIV no longer need daily medication, and may even be able to live completely free of the virus. As the world watches closely, Australia's scientists are once again leading the charge. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
