The art of burying political bad news

Report on small rural schools was buried because it feared the political consequences.

Ruairi Quinn, former education minister, with Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Picture: Photocall

A former adviser to Labour education minister Ruairi Quinn has revealed how Fine Gael insisted that a value-for-money report on small rural schools was buried because it feared the political consequences.

The report, which was commissioned when Fianna Fáil was in government, remains unpublished. It recommended various options for a reduction in the number of one and two-teacher schools in rural areas – many of which are quite close to one another – ...