Comments on: Show your children the door

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:20:57 +0000

Honest as always Sarah.. That’s why we love this blog, fair play!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 10:50:01 +0000

Trust me, that thought crossed my mind more than once. Years spent fighting to get out and then I come crawling back with my babies
Still since I have run my own homes in the intervening period I am a model of consideration and obligation

By: sean

sean — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:02:35 +0000

Mmmm, Sarah — Ironic article that you end up home yourself, building a pad in your parents backyard.

Not saying i disagree with it, just find your article ironic

By: leon

leon — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 08:45:29 +0000

Of course its the poor old salt of the earth country folk catching the flack again, whilst the louche urbanites lazy around with everything falling in their laps.

Perhaps the ruralists should receive a general grant for being the real beating heart of ireland, in addition to REPS, CAP, decentralisation, disproportional health and education spending per capita, etc, etc, to cap it all the world price of wheat and milk products is rising, wheat has doubled in the last 12 months,

As weelington said, just because your born in a barn is doesn’t mean you’re a horse. But, to escape and then later return, pure madness.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:57:17 +0000

oh look I know that’s all true. It must cost a bloody fortune these days. The only thing is – the rural student has no choice and just has to get on with it. The urban student has the cushion.

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:54:48 +0000

I throughly agree that going to a college far from home, so that you are forced to move out of home and grow up, is an excellent idea in theory. I stayed at home when I was a student, and did indeed end up as a 21-year-old child. Fortunately, 1980’s Ireland came to my rescue – high unemployment, expensive phone calls and no Ryanair meant that I had to go abroad and build a life there, forgetting Ireland even existed until the annual Christmas trip home. I even did another degree abroad, paying for myself, but I don’t think I’ve ever really caught up on those 4 years of growing up that I missed out on.

However, I really do believe that moving out is more difficult than it used to be:

1. The “going abroad in the summer to earn money” option no longer makes sense. We used to go to high-wage countries where doing lowly work paid enough to see us through the year in low-wage Ireland. Now, Ireland is that high-wage country, so it makes more sense to work here in the summers, but it still doesn’t pay enough to save much, unless you’re living rent-free at home (catch-22?).

2. Rents have risen hugely in real terms, and thanks to the rate of property development and renovation, the overcrowded, cold, damp, smelly, structurally-unsound places that students used to be able to afford don’t seem to exist any more.

3. Part-time working eats into study time. It’s too easy for students to become focussed on the short-term pressures (working extra hours to pay the rent & bills) and let the important long-term stuff (study) slip. I certainly couldn’t have done a job and got a degree at the same time – maybe other people are more disciplined than me?

4. Student loans are an investment in your degree, and you depend on the degree boosting your earnings enough to pay it back and produce a good return on the investment. So, if you have a student loan, it DOES matter what degree course you study, and how well you do in it. Borrowing to leave home and study something that you’re interested in but will never earn a penny from is a luxury few can afford.

So, I do think it’s harder to move out of home than it used to be, although I admit that the students unrealistic expectations don’t help. Try suggesting to them that it’s possible to live without central heating, credit cards, mobile phones, brand-new clothes and (in many cases) a car, and the reaction is not good.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:29:01 +0000

I don’t think any student looks with a reluctant or fearing eye at the issue of moving out. As far as I can tell, everyone’s up for it, but nobody has the financial resources unless they crawl back to mother and father, which surely defeats the purpose – or your stated purpose, in any case. I’m trying to move out at the moment (an unrushed search since I’m half-living in town already, as, fortunately enough, my girlfriend lives off Harcourt St.), but it’s hard finding, first of all, a part-time job that will give hours sufficient to earn 200 euro a week on minimun wage, and secondly, renting in Dublin demands at least 600 euro a month. In the most practical of ideal circumstances, that means a student has 200 euro a month after rent to spend on, amongst other things, books, food and electricty. Summer jobs, you scream, and I suppose you’re right, but I forgot to do that this year, and even if I had, jobs abroad pay just enough to accomodate, well, summer accomodation. I agree with the person who mentioned summers abroad as a time for growth in question. To boldly go (lacking subtlety?) abroad proves a shrewd move in shaping one as a person – and learning just-what-your-friends-are.

TCD have the Scholars’ Exams, which are really quite incredible, but it’s by no means not easy. And studying enough to get Scholls defeats the thesis about college being less about academics than personal growth.

By: Gerry

Gerry — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:34:12 +0000

They clearly taught you about splitting hairs in your minor public school Tom. As one of those Jesuit boys that Sarah met in college can I say that this is the best article you’ve ever written. Or you’ve written ever as you would prefer .

By: Paul Newton

Paul Newton — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:16:20 +0000

Hey I got an A in honours English (I admit it was 24 years ago) and I have no idea what a split infinitive is?

Will you let me know? Should I google it? Does it matter?

By: Tomaltach

Tomaltach — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:33:30 +0000

Keep it up Tom, you’re looking good for the Most Valuable Contribution award.