By Dara Boyle

College, a time in a young person’s life when they embark on a profound journey of growth and self-discovery… or a two-hour journey on crammed public transport, twice a day.

With Dublin’s infamous rent prices, large numbers of students find themselves unable to take the step of moving out and finding somewhere to live that’s closer to their college.  Thousands of students make the daily trek from Dublin’s bordering counties, and sometimes even further afield.

According to data from the 2011 census, 15,966 students were travelling for between 45 and 50 minutes to get to college each day.  Some 18,711 were undertaking a journey that took between an hour and 90 minutes, and over 8,500 were making trips of more than an hour and a half.

I am a student who travels to the city centre from Navan and home again each day. This is by no means the longest commute faced by any student in the country, but it still entails a bus trip of around an hour and 15 minutes in light traffic, and up to two hours in rush hour conditions.  Some days I spend longer on the bus than in lectures.

Between getting up early, waiting in the cold for public transport and missing out on a lot of the social activities that make up so much of the classic college experience, it would appear that commuting is a lifestyle of many downsides and very few upsides.  However, there is nothing to be gained from moaning, and you know what they say – every cloud, and all the rest of it.

Commuting is cheaper than living away from home.  In this year’s ‘Cost of Living Guide’, DIT have provided an estimate of a student’s monthly expenses.  It takes into account a number of possible expenses, including estimated rent and utility bills as well as travel, food and social life-related expenses, among others.  Monthly costs for a student living away from home come to a total of €1,222.  By contrast, expenses for a student living at home add up to €766.

Data from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) presents similar figures. According to these estimates, students living away from home can expect to fork out €1,048 each month, while those travelling from home are spending a comparatively small €530.

Having less financial worries means, in turn, that you may not have to spend as much of your time outside of college working. This can leave you with more time to spend on whatever non-college-related activities you enjoy.  More importantly, however – at least in the context of this conversation – it can mean more time to study and work on assignments, leading to a less stressful, hectic college experience.

It can sometimes seem that all those hours spent trundling across the country on your way to college and home again are effectively lost.  It’s tempting to while away this time listening to music, staring out the window, and reloading your Facebook feed a thousand times.

However, these monotonous journeys could be seen as hundreds of combined hours of potentially productive time.  During your commute, you are stuck in your seat for the duration of the journey, so you might decide to study for an upcoming exam, make a dent in an assignment, or tackle that dull book you borrowed from the college library and haven’t read yet.

Sure, there are more comfortable environments to study in than jammed against the window of a bus or train carriage full of crying babies and people shouting into phones, but you may find it easier to focus here than somewhere with alternative things to do.

Another, perhaps ironic, result of living at home is that it can have a positive effect on attendance. Even as an adult, a certain level of accountability comes with living in your parent’s house, and having them constantly questioning why you’re at home so much can push you to get out of bed and head into college on days when you may otherwise have decided that whatever lecture you have that morning wasn’t going to have much of an effect on your degree.

Also, the fact that you’ve committed to the daily slog of travelling a long distance, can act as a motivator when the time comes to put your head down and get some work done. There is a sense of satisfaction to be gained from knowing you covered all those miles for a reason.

Living a long way from college tends to mean less adventurous nights out, meaning you will be in better shape in the mornings, and will be able to get up and out without feeling like you’ve just been exhumed from your grave and dumped on the bus.

Finally, having a long journey to make forces you into the habit of getting up early.  As the saying goes – ‘Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.’ Sadly, commuting to college doesn’t seem to have endowed me with any of these three qualities, but there is certainly something to be said for developing the discipline to get out of bed on a pitch dark, cold winter morning.

Happy travels.

By John Smith

A ruling has been upheld by An Bord Pleanála stating that a Temple Bar apartment owner must apply for planning permission if they are to continue to rent out their property on the popular short-term letting site Airbnb.

The case was brought by the Temple Bar Residents Association which highlighted security and disturbance issues caused by the renting of the property, due to the frequent comings and goings of both renters and service staff.

An Bord Pleanála decided that the property had undergone a material change of use due to its Airbnb activity and was therefore not exempt from planning regulations.

After the ruling, Simon Coveney, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, said that there is a lack of clarity around the role Airbnb plays in the property market and this needs to be addressed.

Laws and regulations surrounding Airbnb have been a topic of conversation a lot recently, due to the sudden increase in popularity of the site for holiday-renters.

Earlier this year, a law was introduced in Berlin forbidding the commercial, short-term letting of apartments to tourists without a city permit. This followed concerns over increased rents and a growing housing shortage in the German capital.

Cities in the United States such as New York, Santa Monica and San Francisco are clamping down on the use of the site by implementing strict regulations for short-term rentals.

Personally, I welcome any laws and regulations put in place by cities and countries that strengthen the framework surrounding Airbnb and thus increase safety and fairness for all those directly and indirectly affected by Airbnb.

That being said, I would be against any lawmakers that try to ban Airbnb altogether.

While safety, noise et cetera are definitely concerns, there are also many advantages to Airbnb, such as the increased number of tourists it brings, who then spend their money in local businesses, adding to the growth of the economy.

As someone who uses Airbnb multiple times a year, I feel more good comes from it than bad.

Hopefully local and national governments can come together with Airbnb to ensure that certain procedures are put in place that can benefit everyone rather than a small few.

By Harry Hatton

While I was trying to digest the shocking news of the death of Munster head coach Anthony Foley on Sunday, October 16, there was one clip on television that struck a chord with me.

It was from back in 2006 on a day that Munster confirmed themselves as serious players in European rugby. A joyous Munster team gathered on the podium erected on the field at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff waiting for their captain to lift the Heineken Cup.

The captain was none other than Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley. I was almost 12 when Munster won their first European Cup and my only recollection from that match was when Peter Stringer deceived the Biarritz defence by crossing for a try from the blind side following a scrum.

I had completely forgotten that Foley was Munster’s captain on that memorable afternoon in Cardiff. On a team filled with iconic players such as Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes, Foley was chosen as the leader of a heroic group of men.

In that clip, Foley grins and raises his arms up and down to get his teammates and the Munster spectators in the stands ready for the province’s crowning moment. It was in that instance that I realised what Munster, Ireland and the wider rugby world had lost.

The days that followed were incredibly tough for all associated with the great number eight. There was a moving tribute by Munster fans at the gates of Racing 92’s home ground, the French club that Munster were due to play on the day that Foley passed away.

The Munster support had travelled to see their beloved club in action, but instead they were gathered together in a rendition of ‘The Fields of Athenry’ in mourning at the loss of one of the club’s most famous sons.

As the week progressed, it didn’t get any easier for those associated with Foley to come to terms with his sudden death. Captain Peter O’Mahony bowed his head while speaking to the press ahead of the European encounter with Glasgow, trying to keep his motions intact only days after losing his coach and mentor.

On the eve of Foley’s funeral, hordes of Munster fans lined the streets outside Thomond Park as the hearse with his remains drove slowly past. The Munster fans showed their outstanding strength in unity by singing one of their club anthems ‘There Is An Isle’ before breaking into a round of applause as the hearse drove by in the October night.

It was one surprise that Munster’s game with Glasgow went ahead just a day after Foley’s funeral and another surprise the performance that they delivered in honour of their head coach. The home side hammered their Scottish opponents by 21 points despite Keith Earls’ red card in the first half.

It seemed that no matter what team stood in front of Munster last Saturday, there was no way they were not going to win. The Munster players and supporters had endured enough loss without suffering more on the field.

I will be interested in the months ahead to see how Munster cope in the absence of Foley. Will they be able to channel their hurt and frustration into positive energy on the field of play? Or will the loss of such an inspirational figure leave them mentally vulnerable?

There have been instances in the past where teams have responded to tragic loss to achieve great success. Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen died in 2004 as a result of a heart condition, a year after he helped his county to their maiden All-Ireland football title.

McAnallen’s teammates reacted to his tragic passing by claiming the Sam Maguire for a second time. That was the holy grail for that Tyrone team.

Munster’s holy grail is the Champions Cup, formerly known as the Heineken Cup, and is a competition that the province has won twice in the past.

If Munster were to claim the trophy for a third time in the near future, as unlikely as it may seem, there is no doubt that the success will be dedicated to one man and one man only, the legendary Anthony Foley.