Dan O'Brien: 'Our educated workforce is top of EU league - and children of low-skilled are breaking cycle of poverty'

'Eurostat figures show men in Ireland with the lowest level of education are less likely to be working than the average across the bloc and considerably less likely to be working than in the UK.' Stock image

Dan O'Brien

Did anything positive come from the economic depression this country suffered for half a decade from 2008? The answer is yes. One unambiguously good thing the crash caused was a sharp reduction in school drop-outs, and along with it, a turbo-charging of higher education participation.