This week saw significant coverage of data published by the Department of Education and Youth “which showed that 6,470 fewer children are attending primary school this year compared to last”.

But while there was much discussion of the damage caused to rural communities by the closure of small schools – and no-one doubts that devastating effect – as ever, when it comes to demographic matters, it felt as if the coverage deliberately veered away from the most obvious and significant factor leading to this outcome: the collapse in the Irish birth rate which is exacerbated by the spiralling abortion rate.

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