BALLYMUN COULD be the location of a new Trinity College “student village” if Dublin City Council’s regeneration company is successful in a bid to build accommodation for the university.
Trinity College is seeking tenders for a 1,000-bed accommodation campus within a 2.5km or 30-minute rush-hour commute of the university’s main buildings in Dublin city centre.
Ballymun Regeneration Ltd (BRL), the company set up by the city council to manage the redevelopment of the city’s largest social housing flat complex, is seeking to form a consortium to bid to build the campus.
BRL managing director Ciarán Murray said the company had a number of sites on the Ballymun Road and in the Ballymun Business Park near the M50, which would be suitable for student housing.
“Ballymun offers a huge opportunity for the consolidation of all Trinity’s future needs in terms of the creation of a student village, not only providing accommodation but integrated sports, leisure and cultural facilities,” Mr Murray said.
While Trinity is initially seeking accommodation for 1,000 students, Ballymun had the capacity to house a much larger student village with accommodation for several thousand undergraduates and postgraduate students, he said.
Ballymun is more than 7km from Dublin’s city centre, but Mr Murray said dedicated bus lanes make it a 10-15 minute journey from Trinity and the planned metro station would be just five stops away from the university.
