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THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS across Ireland are anxiously awaiting the release of the Leaving Certificate results on 16 August.
Figures from the State Examinations Commission show that just under 56,000 students sat the Leaving Cert exams this summer.
While most of those students come from regular schooling environments which have a sole focus on the State exam curriculum, each one of them comes from a different background and has a story to tell about their experience of the year.
And then there are those who took their seats on 7 June after fielding various other trials in life.
From Paralympians to mature students, TheJournal.ie spoke to five individuals who sat the 2017 Leaving Cert and asked them about their experience, thoughts on the impending results and their hopes for the future.
Noelle Lenihan had more on her agenda this year than the average Leaving Cert student. She has cerebral palsy and is an Irish Paralympic discus thrower.
She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and just a week before the Leaving Cert began, she won three gold medals at the Paris World Para Athletics Grand Prix.
From Milford in Cork, Lenihan sat her exams in Hazelwood College.
“Basically, I just had a plan and I stuck to it so I was able to get both things done and both things done well,” she told TheJournal.ie.
“It was tough, but I just got on with it.
Obviously, there was a lot to do so I was constantly on my toes for months. Doing one or the other just wasn’t an option.
Lenihan had to travel on a number of occasions during the academic year, but she said that her school was accommodating to her sporting needs.
“Whenever I came back they caught up with me immediately, so that was amazing,” she said.
Lenihan told TheJournal.ie that she plans to separate her sporting life and education, hoping to eventually work in the field of criminology.
“Because my life is so full of sport at the moment, I want to try to keep that as sport and keep it there. I’m hopefully going to do an Arts course in Maynooth University and do criminology afterwards.”
CAO points for that course were 330 in 2016.
Boris Iduhayemeza came to Ireland in 2013 to escape his life in Rwanda. He began his life in Ireland in Direct Provision accommodation, where he still resides.
Iduhayemeza told TheJournal.ie that he had hoped to immediately return to education when he settled into Cork but found it difficult at first.
However, Nasc – an organisation that works to “link migrants and ethnic minorities to their rights” – teamed up with Iduhayemeza and enrolled him in Douglas Community School in Cork in 2014.
“I tried to get into school… It was kind of hard but Nasc helped me. They’ve been really helpful, they enrolled me into school, they got my books and my uniform,” he said.
He said that settling into the Leaving Cert curriculum was difficult at first because his English was still weak. He also had to start studying some topics he had never done before.
“Some subjects were pretty hard but overall I think it went ok,” he said.
Iduhayemeza told TheJournal.ie that he hopes to receive an offer from UCC to study chemical engineering.
“I love chemistry, physics and maths so it’s something I would love to start a career in.”
CAO points for that course were 490 in 2016.
Nicholas Culligan took on the role of a Foróige – the National Youth Development Organisation – director on the 8 May, just one month before his Leaving Cert.
Culligan had been a member of Foróige for a number of years but made the decision to run for the position in May because “it was [his] last chance”. Once members hit 18 they’re no longer affiliated with the organisation.
“I was faced with a full dilemma,” Culligan told TheJournal.ie.
You have the Leaving Cert which is two weeks, there are results but you’re going to leave it in the dirt eventually. Then, I was faced with the role of being a director of a national organisation and I had priorities there.
In the weeks surrounding the Leaving Cert, which sees many students put their whole focus on their studies, Culligan had to balance work emails, event planning and over-the-phone meetings, which he said took up hours of his time.
Unlike the other students TheJournal.ie spoke to, Culligan isn’t focused on getting a university place through the CAO system.
He has already secured a place Post-Leaving Certificate course in paramedic studies.
“I haven’t been thinking about the results at all. All I need is five passes. If I get that I’ll be overjoyed, I don’t care about the points because I’m just going to link in with that.”
When people think of Leaving Cert students, late teens in school uniforms come to mind. However, people of all ages sit the exams every year.
Patrick Kelly is the perfect example that age doesn’t define the exam takers.
Kelly had a bad experience in school first-time around – especially in primary school. He went on to fail his Leaving Cert.
“The primary school teacher I had… instead of helping, he did the opposite. It set my English up for failure nearly the whole way through school,” he told TheJournal.ie.
After school, Kelly went on to work as a plumber for a number of years but he was left unemployed in 2008. He then visited the adult guidance service in his local Education and Training Board to get some advice on what to do next.
“I told them that my English was poor and they advised me to do basic English and maths first. I wasn’t quite as bad as I thought I was,” he said.
Kelly sat the Junior Certificate English exam in 2016 and got a B grade. From there, he decided to do the Leaving Cert this year.
“The exams themselves, I found them tough enough. You can do your Christmas exams and your mocks but on the day the pressure is on,” he said.
Kelly has applied for a place in Dundalk Institute of Technology to study Engineering through the CAO.
Advising other adults considering returning to education, Kelly said:
“The steps into the school are the hardest and it’s a matter of just making the effort and walking in the door because you’ll get all the help you need. They’re fantastic people.”
Having an extracurricular activity or hobby to focus on throughout exam years is vital for a lot of students. Playing camogie for both Celbridge GAA and the Kildare minor team, Anna Gallagher saw sport as a stress-reliever.
Gallagher told TheJournal.ie that she spent up to six hours a week training or playing matches, and used it as a way to clear her mind.
“If I did stop playing then I would’ve been sitting at home and not studying, wanting to be out on the pitch,” Gallagher said.
Whenever Gallagher had a training session in the evening, she said it helped her to focus on getting her homework and study finished in the time-space between the end of school and when she had to head out.
“It was only those five or six hours a week and I had the rest of the week to study then. If I had training in the evening I knew I had to put the hours of study in so I could go,” she said.
She told TheJournal.ie that she hopes to secure a place in the Arts course at Maynooth University, studying Geography and Spanish.
CAO points for that course were 330 in 2016.
The Leaving Cert results are set to be handed out from 9am onwards and available online from 12 noon on Wednesday 16 August.
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Nice to hear Sinn Fein comment of Garda pay ,the crowd with sitting TD who collected a Garda killer from jail. Sickening from shinbots.
@Tensing Norgay:
Didn’t the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis give Garda killer McAuley a standing ovation on his release from prison for killing Det McCabe?
And where is McAuley now?
Back in prison for stabbing his wife 15 times.
In this case you can David. It was the at their Ard Fheis
Another cluster F*^k by FG and their coalition partners in FF, quick look over there a Shinner has spoken!!!!!!
@Tensing Norgay: divide and conquer….martial law and thousands of euros of a rise…. we the people suffer at the hands of bulling corruption and a force that would have committed perjury and do it every day ..CITIZENS YOU NOW LIVE IN A COUNTRY that was on the brink of MARTIAL LAW … .
Well if you tar them all with the same brush should we see all FG members as tax evaders as per the party operating standards under the current minister for finance?
Lavbeer: you cant believe whst you are saying . To reiterate ,they have a sitting TD that collected guys who shot garda dead .the appluaded one of those killers at their ard deis , they want to abolish the special criminal court . They are the party of choice criminals with badly tattoded tri colours
No Harry… you live in a country that denys police offers a basic workers rights. If the police are so different and a vital public service well then the govt shouldn’t keep saying they are the exact same as every other civil servant. They need to be a seen as stand alone service. Also I’m wondering why you say the force would commit perjury and do it everyday?
Anyone who stood up an applauded Pierce McCauley at that are fheis can most certainly be tarred with the same brush. How could the leadership think it was acceptable to have a Garda killer treated as a hero? There’s no defending it.
@Brinster: REMEMBER ABBEYLARA SHOOTING……who done it
It’s sf dirty little secret. They are and always will be anti police.
Chilly I don’t know if it’s much of a secret. Anyone with a bit of sense can see it.
*Cholly ……sorry
@Tensing Norgay: Housing crisis,homeless crisis,teachers nurses Gardaí Doctors all threatening to strike and a hospital bed crisis and you talk about SF. Lol at your deflection from the disaster FG have been in Government.
@Tensing Norgay: How many cops did Michael Collins kill.?
Christ. Are you trying to compare Michael Collins to pearse mccauley???
Shows how warped the little brains of shinners are.
M bowe. No one want to talk about how public sector pay rises we can’t afford will be funded and who will be taxed more to it. Quick look over there …..
Garda Daz topaz / shinbot : hah you’re comparing michael collins with murdering cash truck thieves . Sickening even for a shinbotator , although it does show poeple that just beneath the thin veil of decency the shinbot are the party of criminal and gangs
Enda will no doubt be extolling the virtues of Noreens strong leadership and trying to persuade us all that it was her ultimatum made them go in today. Once again FG stumble and blunder their way from one crisis to the next.
@Tony Skillington:
You sound very unhappy that a mutually acceptable deal has been reached, Tony. Wasn’t that the point of it all?
Are you disappointed?
Seems like a lot of people didn’t really care about the Gardai, public trust, public order or the elderly and vulnerable.
All they really cared about was having a chance to bash the Gov. How patriotic.
@Brinster: Shinner types love discord.
@Brinster: FG do not care about elderly have you not seen the savage cuts their austerity has inflicted onto the elderly.? What about when they took medical cards off children with cancer and downs syndrome? Gardaí showed not much regard for the elderly by making them feel threatened by this threatening strike action. Homeless Housing Budget cuts and a hospital crisis and care homes not being up to scratch yes some caring Government we have. This should have been sorted out ages ago. This is going on years it did not have to go down to the wire last night.
I’m not disappointed brinster..my point is that this dispute has been on the radar for months and FG and their witless ‘leader’ just ignored it. This is fast becoming a common feature with FG with leaving it to the last minute. The commissioner shags off to America on some juncket in the midst of this and then decides to take an adversarial stance by practically threatening Gardai who may have stayed out. FG are bumbling around in government and no, I do not for a second believe FF would be any better.
So again we have more can kicking by Enda and Co and again more of the Journal trying to force things on the Garda, it’s been called off for now, it has not been accepted by members and I wonder if 1500€ really will push the vote in there favor, I think not. The commissioner, Minister for Justice need to go and Enda Kenny needs to step down as leader of this government the guy is dangerously clueless and if he had any respect for this party he would. If not he is going to spark a GE every soon.
Paid for a 15 minute handover, this will not go down well with the nurses. Well that’s if Liam Doran can be bothered to actually raise the issue,nurse complete a handover which can take up to an hour and they do not get paid for this, yet they have to work a day for free every month. JOKE
On the plus side, at least the nurses are legally permitted to strike and fight for the better conditions that they deserve.
Well that’s good news . Where I live it’s very rarely to see a Garda car and only once this year have I seen two Gardai walking down my road. Yet any night there’s a football match on in Sean Walsh park these guys are tripping over themselves.
@Alan Scott: Again Alan, if you bothered your arse to look closely at this you would get information and look at the policing plan for your area and see it is completely different from policing plan for a football match, the stadium will pay for overtime for the Garda, so the management can draft in more staff with more money, if they didn’t then either the match wouldn’t happen or there would be no Garda at it. I would suggest strongly that you take this up with your local TD or Superintendent so that you can find out how you can give input into the policing plan for your area. So in summary, goverment again failing to invest money into the police force equals less Garda on the street.
@OnTheOutside: Red thumbs from people who rather sit and complain about the lack of Garda on the internet happily all day and yet could be bothered to ask there local TD’s/Super about how to get involved in the policing plan, I guess it’s too ‘rat’ like for some people or just easier to moan about it and do nothing about it.
On the Outside I am not critical with the Gardai on the beat their bosses and unlike you I am not going to get wound up on your comment to me except to say the amount of Gardai that are policing these football days seem to me to be way over the top No one cares about your policing plan there’s none where I live if there was we would see at least some of them in our community on the beat.
On the Outside I note you are not a fan of red thumbs . Your statement explains everything to me
@Alan Scott: Well Alan if you don’t care about your policing plan (and yes there is one where you live) then why are you complaining about how your area is policed? And again, I have already pointed out why there is no Garda on the beat and how you can resolve it but you don’t seem to want to listen.
@ On theOutside. I am not complaining I made a statement on my first post and you took me up on it I am trying to defend what I am talking about . My job for you 36 years a lot of the time did in some way involve the Gardai as a local Authority worker . So I do know what I am talking about
FGs wish to remain at the trough and meet Europe’s payment demands are a road to disaster for the party. FF will swoop soon.. I wish politics and the electorate were not so predictable… Screw me once , screw me twice :(
Well the Fianna Fail policy under Bertie wasn’t much better, they gave the Unions pretty much whatever they wanted, and the public sector pay bill trebled under their watch.
The true cost of Bertie’s socialism is l now being played out.
Glad that a mutually acceptable solution was found.
Feeling of relief for many in the country today.
The strike could have been extremely damaging to the public trust.
@Brinster: very unlikely that members will accept this offer when it goes to ballot.
€15 bonus for everyday they take off…A holiday bonus worth circa €500 per year for taking your holidays? That will go down well with other public service sectors, particularly the teachers who get three months holidays?
Unless they have a full time permanent contract, teachers don’t get paid in the summer so they’re unemployed for three months. Not exactly holidays
Just because the gardai get offered something doesn’t mean every civil servant should as well. They have proven they are a vital stand alone service and should be treated differently. The country was on the brink of martial law. I’m happy and support the gardai fully
I think the point of this “bonus” as you call it is related to the fact that unlike other workers Gardai cannot take annual leave as they please. Weekend night shifts, days off around Christmas and other holiday times are off limits for them. To be fair most workers can ask for time off as they wish. Why shouldn’t the guards be compensated for not having the same right.
It’s off?
:calls off various crimes.
Somewhere nearby, an arch villain is stroking his cat and whispering “I’ll get you next time gadget”
What gadgets would an Irish inspector gadget have?
Our Govt. are pack of spineless p*ssies. The 12% of income tax payers who pay 80% of the tax will have to dig into their pockets to pay for this. This is only the beginning and it’s now open season on the taxpayer. We’ll be bust in 10 years because of the toxic pensions of the public sector. We can’t afford this.
A lot of money for the Garda Commissioner and her management team to keep their jobs and implement questionable polices with no real change.
Can’t wait to hear the detail on the Productivity part of the deal. Maybe a commitment to deal with the Clearance back log to enable the fellow citizens who need it to get a job and get off the dole. I won’t hold my breath.
So, the LRA wasn’t the only show in town after all.
Pretty briefings? In other words, sit down there for yourself and have a cuppa tea..Sher you’re being paid AGAIN for it !! What a laugh
widespread relief there might be but this entire saga was a farce from start to finish. The dogs on the Street knew they would get what they wanted, the absurd pretence, warnings of armagadon, Civil society breaking down was beyond silly and certain media outlets where obviously taking their lead from Fox News hysteria. Even the commissioner knew the government would cave in and by all accounts didn’t even bother with a tiresome contingency plan. Complete silliness, complete farce and a complete nonsense. Of course we can now expect the various public service unions to have their collective hands out whilst quing outside the labour relations commission, Landsdowne road my hole.
As I said earlier this week they would get their deal and fair play, Iam very sure many of them could do with the extra cash. However as I also said “who is going to pay for this , just look at the public transport cost going up, Being in the private sector I do not want further living cost imposed on me to pay for this.
Wide spread relief lol .. you’d think anarchy was gonna happen lol
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