It may not be every student's college dream, but a university is offering alcohol-free accommodation for those who prefer a quieter life.
University College Cork (UCC) has announced that a limited number of dedicated student apartments will be booze-free zones from this September.
The initiative, a first for UCC, will be self-policing and there will be no one with a breathalyser checking blood alcohol levels. It is partly a response to concerns about alcohol consumption among students generally and college concerns that its accommodation policy reflects the increasingly diverse student population.
Growing numbers of students are coming from abroad, and from different cultural and religious backgrounds, and alcohol may hold no appeal for many of these.
A minimum of three apartments, catering for between three and five students each, in the college's off-campus Victoria Lodge complex, are being set aside for the pilot scheme.
Interested students will have to provide a written personal statement setting out why it appeals to them, when they are submitting their housing application
Those who are offered places will have to sign a contract agreeing to adhere to the alcohol regulations and anyone violating the rules may be subject to a disciplinary process.
UCC said students had different preferences when it came to housing such as same-sex accommodation, Irish language speaking-only or mature student-only, and the new alcohol-free option would cater for those wanting a lifestyle that did not involve the consumption of alcohol.
The reasons why students may choose this are varied, but they may simply just prefer the quieter surroundings that an alcohol-free area may bring, said a spokesperson.
Source: Katherine Donnelly, Irish Independent, 21/08/2013
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