{"id":648883,"date":"2026-10-08T20:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/648883\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T20:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:32:13","slug":"its-ruined-tens-of-thousands-in-damage-outcry-after-limerick-house-trashed-amid-student-party-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/648883\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s ruined, tens of thousands in damage\u2019: Outcry after Limerick house trashed amid student party \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The interim provost of the University of Limerick<\/a> (UL) has written to students lamenting the reputational damage to the college after a break-in and serious criminal damage to a house was linked to a student<\/a> party.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed<\/a> are investigating the incident at a refurbished vacant house in College Court in the heartland of the university\u2019s off-campus accommodation in the early hours of Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Videos showing young people running amok in the house were shared on social media<\/a>. Walls and ceilings were knocked through and fixtures and fittings were torn down.<\/p>\n

One video showed young people throwing a shelving unit through a window.<\/a> The video showed a group screaming and laughing as more damage was caused to the property.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman at UL said on Thursday the identities of those involved in the incident had not been established.<\/p>\n

However, Ann Ledwith, who is deputy president and interim provost, wrote to students on Thursday and said she was \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d at the incident.<\/p>\n

She said \u201cantisocial behaviour not only damages property, but it also damages our reputation and our valued community relationships\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversity of Limerick treats all complaints concerning individuals with the utmost seriousness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"UniversityUniversity of Limerick vice president global and community engagement Colin Fitzpatrick; interim provost Ann Ledwith; and then-minister for further and higher education Patrick O’Donovan. Photo: ArthurEllisPhotography\/ Brian Arthur Photo <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the identity of those involved in the incident has yet to be ascertained, let me be very clear \u2013 this sort of behaviour is simply unacceptable from any member of our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cActs of antisocial behaviour, including property damage, public disorder and other actions that impact negatively upon local residents and landlords are a matter of very serious concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walls, windows and ceilings of Limerick house destroyed during \u2018student party\u2019 <\/p>\n

Ledwith urged students to remember they were expected to \u201cact as an ambassador for UL, both on and off campus, and ensure that your actions reflect positively on our community\u201d.<\/p>\n

Walls and ceilings were torn down in the property. At one point during the video footage, the camera is pointed up at a ceiling on the first floor, revealing no ceiling but a gaping void into the attic and roofing joists.<\/p>\n

The first floor of the six-bedroom property was also littered with what appeared to be attic and wall insulation, and fixtures and fittings in an upstairs bathroom were also destroyed.<\/p>\n

Videos also showed mattresses thrown on to the garden and used as landing mats by students who also filmed themselves jumping off the roof.<\/p>\n

Ledwith reminded students of the Garda\u2019s appeal for information, and included the Garda contact details in her email.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Walls, windows and ceilings of Limerick house destroyed during \u2018student party\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Eric Nelligan, a secondary school assistant principal, who lives nearby, posted on X: \u201cMy kitchen window looks on the entrance of this estate, it\u2019s carnage in there, most traditional residents have moved out … College Court is notorious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would possess college students to do this? The house is ruined, tens of thousands in damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two-storey house was recently sold after it was advertised as a vacant possession with a guide price of almost \u20ac445,000, and according to local sources, it had been in \u201cturnkey\u201d condition before last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The property was advertised online by Rooney Auctioneers, Limerick, as having an \u201ceasily accessible pedestrian entrance to the nearby University campus, and a much sought-after location for student accommodation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestors will be drawn to a lucrative investment opportunity with proximity to the University of Limerick, with superb rental potential,\u201d added the property pitch.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood investigating garda\u00ed are following a definite line of inquiry, as several of the perpetrators of last Wednesday\u2019s break-in and damage were clearly identifiable in video footage circulated on social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The interim provost of the University of Limerick (UL) has written to students lamenting the reputational damage to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1346,61,60,1396,43,101139],"class_list":["post-648883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-garda-siochana","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-limerick","tag-news","tag-university-of-limerick-ul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}