Posted online: Jan 15th, 2010

By Teresa McGowan
Editor

RETURNING for exams after their Christmas break over hundreds of students arrived in Sligo to find that their homes were destroyed and possessions ruined.
Over 80 homes in student areas in Sligo town, including Mulberry Park, Glencarrick and Copper River, were flooded when frozen pipes burst during the cold snap.
Going unnoticed in many of the houses for several days meant the ceiling on many properties fell in leaving them look like a building site.
David Mackin, a second year Health and Physiology student, says he returned to his student accommodation in Mulberry after Christmas and it seemed like it was “raining inside the house”.
“I got to the back door and when I opened it there was water dripping everywhere,” said the Louth man.
“I went upstairs and saw that the ceilings had collapsed in and the whole place was a mess. There were three other houses in the street that it happened to.
“Myself and the three people I live with had to find other accommodation. It’s an awful disruption. I had exams this week and last and I didn’t even have anywhere to study. ”
Breffni Gorman, the President of IT Sligo Students’ Union said there were over 80 student homes flooded over the Christmas break with students left homeless.
“Over 80 houses have been completely destroyed. The student accommodation was not full before Christmas but it is full now because of the people who had to move out of their house,” she told the Post.
“The Students’ Union has been working with students who have had to deal with the frozen pipes in their houses bursting since December 28.
“There have been lots of people affected really badly by this. Their exam notes and books have been destroyed as well as electrical equipment, TVs and all the possessions they left at their student digs over Christmas.
“Some have been insured but some have not so it’s really tough on them.
“The ceiling collapsed on many of the houses and haven’t been fixed yet. Others are still moving out of their damp houses,” she added.
Miss Gorman said that many students are having to fit the bill for temporary accommodation.
“With over 80 houses destroyed there are hundreds of students left with no place to live. Most students are sleeping on a friend’s floor and the ones who have accomidation are having to pay more for it.
“Some of the landlords have insurance to cover the contents of the house but others have to pay for it themselves.”