The demise of one teacher schools would seriously damage the diversity of rural Ireland, the Fianna Fail spokesman on education, Mr Micheal Martin, warned yesterday at the launch of the party's programme to counter rural disadvantage.
Under the programme, Fianna Fail plans to upgrade all one teacher schools to two teacher schools, said Mr Martin. He added that 60 per cent of all disadvantaged school pupils lived in rural areas with populations of less than 10,000.