I'm starting down at AFTA in July too, my course is starting on the 27th though.
Yeah cork is turning into a bit of a nightmare to find accommodation. Worth trying the Univeristy (UCC/CIT) areas, would definitely be good to find cheap short term accommodation until Sept with all the students gone for the summer. City centre seems to have a good bit of accomodation too. Depends on what you are doing for transport (bus/car etc)
Feel free to drop me a PM man