A CHANGE TO an online application form has caused confusion over whether students from the Republic of Ireland who are studying at universities in Northern Ireland are eligible for Student Leap Cards.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has said that students with addresses in the Republic studying in Northern Ireland should be able to apply for Student Leap Cards, as has been the case in previous years.

However, while this might technically be the case, it doesn’t work in practice: Northern Irish universities are not named on the list of institutions on the online application form which students have to fill in to get their card. 

One student was told that she no longer qualified for a Student Leap Card due to “new eligibility” – something the NTA later tried to walk back and blamed on “internal confusion”.

“I just want to know what’s going on,” the student said, adding that she has already spent time trying to communicate with the NTA to find a resolution to the issue.

Confusion over criteria

In 2022, Transport for Ireland (TFI) introduced a new Young Adult Leap Card, which entitles adults aged between 19 and 25 years of age to 50% fare discount on public transport.

The new card type for young adults included the majority of students in further education, but the Student Leap Card remained available to students between the ages of 16-18 and students over the age of 25, who were not entitled to the new Young Adult Leap Card.

Up until this year, students in the North were able to avail of a Student Leap Card provided they had an address in the Republic.

However, there is now no option to select a third-level institution in the North when applying for a Student Leap Card.

Applicants who enter a county such as Antrim have no option to select their university, being presented instead with a list of other types of institutions. In contrast, a student who selects a county such as Dublin is provided with a list of eligible colleges and universities from which they can select their place of study.

The list of college and universities that appears for a student who selects Dublin as their place of study (left) versus the absence of such a list for a student who selects Antrim (right).

A spokesperson for the NTA, which manages TFI, said “this is not a recent measure” when contacted by The Journal.

However, one student in Queen’s University Belfast told The Journal that she had no problem receiving her Student Leap Card last year. Originally from Mayo, the postgrad student is not eligible for the Young Adult Leap Card as she is over the age of 25.

“Last year, I applied [for the Student Leap Card] and it wasn’t a problem. It was confirmed straight away,” she said. 

However, this year, when she tried to renew the card, there was no longer an option to select her university. 

She contacted TFI’s customer service, which said in an email seen by The Journal that under “new eligibility”, universities in the North no longer qualified for Student Leap Cards.

When the NTA was asked why it was communicated to a student that there was “new eligibility”, given it stating that there has been no change in eligibility criteria, a spokesperson said: “It appears to be some internal confusion, which we will investigate. There is no new eligibility criteria. The method of application has been updated to central verification. Criteria and evidence requirement remain the same.”

The NTA spokesperson added that this should not exclude mature students who have an address in the Republic but study in the North.

Costly expenses

The student tries to travel home around once a month, which requires several trains. Although her Northern Irish student travel card allows her a discount on the train from Belfast to Dublin, from Dublin to Mayo there is now a doubled price.

A return ticket for students is €18.70. The regular fare is €37.38.

“I haven’t [gone home] since my card has been refused,” she said. “It’s made me reconsider going home quite a bit. Everything’s so expensive now: electricity, rent, butter. It’s a doubling of the price of the fare on students to get home.

“It’s seriously prohibitive.”

She added that it felt like a strange move given the government’s Shared Island initiative.

The NTA spokesperson initially said when contacted about the change:

“Currently, those studying in the Republic of Ireland can apply and receive a ‘TFI Student Leap Card’ for discounted travel in the Republic of Ireland.

“If the person is aged between 19-24 they could also apply for the ‘TFI Young Adult Card’ which offers the same discount as Student with the advantage of not having to be renewed every year.

“For travel in Northern Ireland, Translink have the similar ‘YLink Card’ offering discounted travel for those aged between 16-23 year olds. A student from the Republic of Ireland studying in Northern Ireland could avail of a combination of these cards to achieve discount on services used.”

Sinn Féin’s Transport spokesperson Pa Daly told The Journal that reduced access to Student Leap Cards would have a “disastrous” impact and force more students to use cars to commute.

Daly said that in a recent press briefing, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien had refused to rule out fare hikes.

“At a time when the cost of living of living crisis is worsening at every turn, this is yet another body blow to the thousands of students this affects,” Daly said.