The dream of doing an exchange abroad may not be as glamorous as you think. In the quest to take an English course abroad, Brazilian students face a housing crisis in Ireland, a country much sought after by young Brazilians for not having such a high cost of living and offering advantages in terms of studies. Therefore, before planning your exchange trip, it is important that you think about how you might behave in unexpected situations, such as not finding a hostel to stay in, as this is the most recurrent problem in that European country.
Most of the problem occurs because many Brazilian students who go to Ireland in search of accommodation are only concerned with the study part, choose the school, pay for a plan, search for hostels on the internet and make a reservation for the first days, or first weeks. With the high demand of foreigners arriving in Ireland, precisely to exchange, hostels end up raising prices. Young people look for other places to stay, but they can’t find them. As a result, there are often stories of young people who end up sleeping in friends’ cars or even on the street because they can’t find a place to stay in Ireland.
According to Ireland’s Department of Justice, more than 17,000 visas were granted to international students in 2019, before the pandemic. In 2022, with the situation returning to normal, there were just over three thousand visas of this type in the first four months of the year. This shows the great demand for students to enter the European country for an exchange.
Cases of students not being able to find a place to stay are being reported frequently by the Irish media, just a quick internet search for you to check this question.
High demand
With the high demand, of course, the prices of accommodation have increased and some students are faced with values very different from what they researched on the internet before leaving home, especially on weekends, when there is also a high demand for accommodation for Europeans and the Irish themselves. The difference is that they have a better purchasing power and can stay even with high prices.
The main cities in crisis are Dublin, Galway and Cork. So, if you can get accommodation outside of these points, it can help you escape the accommodation crisis in Ireland.
What should I know before staying in Ireland?
With this new reality of Brazilian students facing a crisis to settle in Ireland, it is worth caution and a lot of research before starting an exchange. Some questions you can think about before traveling are:
- Is the city I will be staying in a route for European and Irish tourists?
- What are the alternatives if I can’t stay in a hostel?
- Can I get accommodation if the values go up by 105 or 15%?
Going out for an exchange is an important and meaningful option for every young person, so careful planning and accurate research about accommodation in a foreign country is essential to make your stay pleasant and profitable.
