The iPod generation is showing lots of promise, but many won’t make it

ONE point two million. That’s how many children there are in Ireland (if you count 18-year-olds as children). Just under half are girls, and they constitute about 30% of our population.

According to the last census, about 90% of them were born in Ireland. They are being born into smaller families the average size of a family has halved in 30 years, from four children to two.

I know all this because I was asked to speak about 'The Child in the 21st Century' to the Irish Primary Principals Network last week. You might have noticed the Minister for Education on television at the weekend urging them to stop moaning about their lot.