Life in the Holylands; The Highs and Lows of Student Life
By Finnian McCarney
A “student ghetto”, one anonymous online reporter stated, we all know what The Holylands are, the network of religiously named streets is home to what many students would consider where some of their best university memories were ignited. Whether from chaotic yet charming house parties, to iconic posts on Holylands Spotted’s Instagram, or even simple times spent with your day ones in an affordable student house, the areas mark as the mascot of Belfast student life is undeniable. What is also undeniable however, is the ‘lands’ habit of not just bringing out the best in what student life has to offer, but especially the worst. On Wikipedia, the Holylands has its own page, in which the largest section by far is entitled, “Anti-social behaviour”, being sextuple times larger in wordcount than any other section. In 2009, community safety wardens reported more than 1,000 incidents of anti-social behaviour in The Holylands at a Belfast City Council meeting. [1]
Many hold the saying, “new year, new me” close to their hearts, this clearly is not the case for The Holylands, as every few weeks this year, it feels as if a major headline of a tragic event occurring in the area erupts. But it is vital not to just pretend that what happens, happens, but to instead analyse what is going on and how this represents University life.
Everyone has humble beginnings, even The Holylands (somehow). Originally a densely populated, working-class protestant neighbourhood, the Holylands street names were originally inspired by the area developer’s trip to Egypt and Palestine. This international inspiration would only be foreshadowing for the streets’ present inhabitants, who house hundreds of students from across the world, including a large migrant population. The shift began around the 1980s as demand for cheap student housing increased. This new influx of residents in the area caused tension with previous inhabitants, potentially making way for the area’s current image, as a “student ghetto”, with cheap, poorly maintained housing. “99.97% of the student rental down there have damp problems and stink, can’t be good for the lungs”, another anonymous reporter stated. Making current headlines such as, “Four men arrested after armed response teams detain several people at gunpoint following ‘serious assault’ report” [2], in the Belfast Telegraph not as shocking. The PSNI have yet to release further updates on the situation, but what is certain is that people may be shocked by the event, but certainly not the location.
Overall, it is clear that The Holylands is not exactly a safe location, something that is becoming increasingly certain as reports of aggression from residents, usually men targeting women in a sexual manner, are becoming more frequent. Therefore, it is more important than ever to assess whether The Holylands is an issue entirely spawned by problematic student culture. A third of U.K. students may experience crime[3], along with bleakly, the U.S. National Institute of Justice reports that 19% of college women experience attempted sexual assault[4]. Which, in reality, is much higher than what is reported here, since according to the UK Parliament, 83% of sexual violence acts go unreported due to fears of retaliation or shame[5]. It is evident that The Holylands is not just one sad example of student behaviour, but an accurate representative of the dangers of university life in its entirety.
Therefore, we must look not at what we can change about The Holylands, but instead what we can change about student culture itself, as The Holylands merely appears to shine a magnifying glass upon these pre-existing issues, typically sprung from toxic masculinity in relation to violence. But what has been done to prevent this? Queen’s has implemented a variety of measures, including the Green Dot QUB programme, empowering students to identify sexual harassment and assault, along with campaigns such as “Got Consent?” and “Report + Support”. Valid measures considering the low-report rate of sexual assault, however, considering the severity of these crimes, which seemingly occur every day in student life, there should always be more.
There is no fancy conclusion to this article; what I urge readers to do is make it known that these actions are occurring and to speak up. It is an evil fact of life that we live in a world where assault is as common as it is, but what is vital is that you speak up and challenge this reality. Join protests, donate to organisations against assault and male aggression or even simply repost warnings online. In which we can make the Holylands and the University a safer place.
[1] Minutes – Health & Environmental Services Committee. Belfast City Council. “Update on Roll-Out of City-Wide Community Safety Warden Scheme”
[2] Scott, Kevin. 2026. “Four men arrested after armed response teams detain several people at gunpoint following ‘serious assault’ report.’” Belfast Telegraph https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/local/south-belfast/news/four-men-arrested-after-armed-response-teams-detain-several-people-at-gunpoint-following-serious-assault-report/a/136278185.html
[3] Lewis, Joe, 2022. “Sexual harassment and violence in further and higher education”. House of Commons Library https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9438/#:~:text=Studies%20and%20reports%20by%20academics,to%20have%20experienced%20sexual%20assault.
[4] 2007. National Institute of Justice. https://nij.ojp.gov/library/publications/sexual-victimization-college-women
[5] Lewis, Joe, 2022. “Sexual harassment and violence in further and higher education”. House of Commons Library https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9438/#:~:text=Studies%20and%20reports%20by%20academics,to%20have%20experienced%20sexual%20assault.
