People living near University College Cork say they have been living a nightmare during the COVID-19 pandemic due to ongoing student house parties.

Residents on Magazine Road and College Road in Cork City say up to 60 people are attending the house parties – with some of them lasting for days.

The area is home to hundreds of students; however, there are also pensioners and older people who have lived there for decades.

    

Rose O’Sullivan, who has lived in the area for sixty years, told Newstalk reporter Barry Whyte that her 99-year-old father has been unable to leave his home.

“I’m just very annoyed and very upset that year on year, the behaviour and the breaking of the law and the unease in this area is escalating,” she said.

“This year with COVID-19 it has beaten all records.”

"You'd be afraid of them"

She said her father has essentially given up on the idea that anything can be done about the situation.

“There are five people in their 90s living around my house,” she said.

“They all went back into lockdown again with people – I’m not exaggerating – hundreds of them passing with slabs of drink up on their shoulders.

“You would be afraid of them and that is no way to live your life.”

COVID parties

Residents say some landlords continued to rent out rooms after the lockdown was announced with students arriving in the area after they realised their traditional summer trips were no longer an option.

It is also claimed that people are now coming to the area instead of going to places like Magaluf or Ibiza.

This resident said she was met with abuse when she tried to confront the students.

“I don’t take my kids for walks in this area,” she said. “I wouldn’t dream of it because you’ll have gangs of semi-naked people shouting, walking up and down the street – and that is just the girls.

“The boys will be there too with their drinks.

“I don’t want my kids to think that’s normal behaviour, so we just get in the car and drive somewhere else to walk.”

Evictions

One student, who didn’t want to be named, told Barry that he had recently been evicted for hosting a party.

“The number of people that came was larger than planned. We had maybe 30 people in the home.

"The gardaí came and contacted the landlord. He came down the next day and gave us the boot straight away.

“We were all apologetic about it but that was it. No warning or anything, we were kicked straight out.”

He said other students should be prepared to face the same penalty in the coming weeks.

“I don’t think residents and gardaí are going to take this much longer if it doesn’t calm down,” he said.

“They are right. It is at an all-time peak. I have never seen so many parties going on around the area so yeah people should be prepared for it really.”

You can listen back to Barry Whyte’s full report here: