Great achievements at De la Salle
SMALL groups of young men stood together under the awning at the front of the De la Salle school, their faces bright, despite the onset of yet another miserably rainy ‘summer’ morning.
There is a good feeling around the De la Salle where around 150 students received their Leaving Cert results last Wednesday. A significant number had opted to call to the school to collect their results from 8.30am, which were, principal Patricia O’Leary said, ‘great’.
‘We are very happy with the results, but everyone will have wait to Monday to find about the courses’, said Ms O’Leary. ‘I think the students are happy because they have done very well. We are getting to grips with the new (grading) system and one student, at least, has achieved 601 points, while another achieved 590’.
She also congratulated the students who did the Leaving Cert Applied course, which has been introduced in the school in the past couple of years.
The students, Ms O’Leary said, are considering careers in a wide range of areas, including computer science, architecture, engineering, business, teaching, accounting and finance.
One student who was sure about his career path was Tadgh McNally from Dromiskin. He’s heading to DCU to study journalism (despite my best efforts to dissuade him!) because he likes the news and wants to report it in an objective a way as possible. He admitted he was a ‘ bit nervous’ on results morning, but he was very happy with his results and was looking forward to a great night out in Dundalk to celebrate with his friends.
Another happy student was Harry Foley from the Avenue Road. In what could be classed as the understatement of the day, Harry said: ‘I got on well today’, before revealing he had achieved a massive 590 points, including a top grade in Applied Maths. He’s hoping to study engineering in Galway ‘all going well’ and said he had ‘no problem’ with the new grading system. He, too, was heading out to celebrate with his friends that night.
And Seamus Small from Castlebellingham said he was very pleased with his results, which included a great grade at higher level Maths. ‘I wasn’t expecting that!’ he admitted modestly, revealing that he had been awarded a H1 in this most difficult subject. ‘I thought that was going to be a different grade coming in here this morning!’
His chosen career path? It’s law at Trinity College Dublin. ‘I want to help people’, he said, ‘and I think law would put me in that position where I could use my skills and ability to do that’.