Children must be front and centre of recovery planning

Educational recovery plans must include children and young people that have fallen out of the system in the last 12 months

It has been a year Barnardos will recall as one of the most challenging in memory for the children and families that they work with.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the first school closures in Ireland in response to the outbreak of Covid-19. It is one year since our lives were turned upside down and the everyday pleasures of seeing family and friends, touching and hugging them as we chose, were lost to us. A year that has been so long as we faced fear, hope, confusion, and pride in the solidarity of how we coped together followed by a sense of weariness as we realised how long this was going to last. It is a year Barnardos will recall as one of the most challenging in memory for the children and families that we work with.

Infectious disease disproportionately affects those who are marginalised, those who are vulnerable, and those that live in poverty according to infectious disease expert Professor Mary Horgan. Decisions taken throughout the year, based on sound public health advice impacted us all, but as with the catalyst of these decisions – covid-19 – they impacted some far more than others.