There are 25 communities across Northern Ireland, mainly rural areas west of the Bann, that face an imminent decision. Each is served by a Catholic and a state de facto Protestant primary school, with one or both schools below the threshold of viability and no alternatives nearby.

There are another two communities with secondary schools in the same position.

These so-called “isolated pairs” were identified in a 2024 paper from Ulster University. Its implications are obvious. The affected communities must find a way to share one school, by any of the various means possible, or risk losing both.

The urgency of this was brought home in February by a Stormont report showing pupil numbers are about to collapse.

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The report – a budget strategy from the Department of Education – looked ahead to 2033, the year in which Northern Ireland’s total population is expected to go into indefinite decline, even allowing for immigration.

By that year, primary and secondary school enrolment will already have fallen by 20.5 and........

© The Irish Times