Lockdown learners: How the impact of Covid-19 will have a lifelong impact

From pre-school through to third-level, learners have now been disrupted for two academic years and dire forecasts show this disruption will follow some all their lives. Jess Casey investigates

The coronavirus pandemic affected us all differently, and the same can be said for those in education. File photo: iStock

Before the shutdown in March 2020, Patrick, 8, would go swimming and horse riding.

His mother Nicola Scott, a lone parent, had a support network she saw regularly, made up of friends she met taking Patrick to play parks and outdoor activities near their home in Sligo.