Limerick student officers highlight direct provision issues by living on €38.80 for week

UNIVERSITY of Limerick Student Life sabbatical officers are this week attempting to live on €38.80 to highlight the fierce restrictions on the autonomy of residents living in direct provision.

As the university marks  Sanctuary Week from April 1 to 7, three officers from the student representative body are standing in solidarity with people in direct provision by living on the weekly allowance they receive. 

“The challenge is an opportunity to cast a spotlight on just one aspect of what living in Direct Provision is like,” said UL student welfare officer Lorcan O’Donnell, who is taking part in the challenge. 

“Obviously we’re speaking from a very privileged standpoint and if we go over the €38.80 it really isn’t the end of the world for us as individuals,” he added. 

On Monday, both Mr O’Donnell and UL Student Life president Ciara Jo Hanlon took part in a Sanctuary Run around the UL campus, a regular sporting initiative that sees a group of asylum seekers, refugees and Irish citizens running as one in solidarity. 

UL has offered fifteen Sanctuary scholarships each year since 2017 to those from refugee and asylum-seeking communities, which include support towards the costs of higher education.

“(The challenge) is going to give us perspective and it comes back to what we take for granted,” Ciara Jo Hanlon said. 

“I can’t go and get a coffee that I want because I have to really think about things that I need which is what our Sanctuary students have to do on a constant daily basis.” 

While students can work with “very tight budgets”, those in direct provision constantly must think about what they need, Ms Hanlon added. “They cannot work, they simply don’t have the same luxuries that we do.” 

A number of events and initiatives are taking place across the university campus this week for staff and students as part of Sanctuary Week, including a photographic exhibit, a concert and a film screening. 

UL Student Life and the university hope the weeks opens further discussion on life in direct provision. 

“I’d like people to try and educate themselves on what life is like for our Sanctuary students and for people in general who are seeking international protection,” Mr O’Donnell said. “I’d also like for them to use this new knowledge going forward in local elections that are coming up and make sure that Direct Provision is something that’s on their candidates agenda.”