College has defended its legal right to regulate the entry of overnight guests on campus, following a ruling which found that its current policies are “impermissible”.
The Residential Tenancy Board (RTB) yesterday ruled in favour of former Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President László Molnárfi, now an investigative reporter for Trinity News, who filed a complaint against College.
The RTB ruled in November 2024 that College was in violation of the peaceful occupation clause of the 2004 Residential Tenancies Act, which has included legislation about student accommodation since a 2019 amendment.
College has since appealed this decision twice, however yesterday the final ruling on the matter took place, with the RTB stating that the policy of seeking identification of guests, curfews and cut-offs for guest check-ins, amongst other practices, are in violation of the peaceful occupation clause.
A spokesperson for College wrote in a statement to Trinity News this morning: “The university welcomes the clarity brought by the recent determination of the Residential Tenancies Board Tribunal on its overnight guest policy.”
“In the best interest of all residents, the university may request the name of a resident’s guest, set cut-off times for the signing-in of a guest and include additional measures within its conditions of occupancy to deal with antisocial behaviour.”
The tribunal did agree that College is entitled “to impose conditions regulating the entry of guests”, but nonetheless upheld Molnárfi’s argument the policy, in its current form, interfered with the right to “peaceful occupation” guaranteed under Irish law, in his specific case.
Currently, there are no explicit parameters regarding these practices in the conditions of occupancy, which every student resident on campus or in Trinity Hall must sign before taking a room.
In its statement, College added that “in advance of the publication of this determination, the accommodation office worked closely with the students’ union to agree a new policy which is going through the university’s approval process”.
