Class act in the Leaving Cert
Shawn Neiland and Tara Lee were all smiles after getting their Leaving Certificate results from Villiers School in Limerick. Photo: Brian Arthur
IT was seventh heaven for the country’s highest achievers, with seven students clinching eight H1s in their Leaving Cert results.
It was an all-male affair too as Daire Byrne, Alan Hickey, Andres Clarke, Alex Burke, Liam Mariga, Lorcan Mulkerrins, and Harry Deacon all found themselves on the roll-call for the top grades.
Daire, from Lucan, Co Dublin, had not been expecting to see eight H1s.
The Coláiste Phádraig student was taking it all in his stride however, saying that these results were just a “checkpoint” for him as he heads to Edinburgh in September.
Principal Tony Brady was full of praise for his star pupil, and said Daire was a great example of how you don’t have to attend a private school to achieve such great results.
“Lads can achieve these results in their local schools once they go in, work with the staff, and put the work in themselves, and have the support of their parents,” he said.
There must have been something in the water in Dublin as another star student was Andres Clarke, who was a pupil at Oatlands College, Mount Merrion.
It was a double celebration for Andres, as yesterday also marked his birthday.
The Donnybrook teenager said it was all a “surreal moment”.
High-achiever Andres said that having a part-time job during his final year at school, as well as swimming, had helped him take a step back from study when he needed to.
Another Dub who achieved an incredible eight H1s was Alan (18), from
Foxrock, in Dublin.
He had distracted himself on Tuesday by working – but by yesterday morning the nerves had started to kick in for the CBC Monkstown student, as his personal target of six H1s played on his mind.
Rounding off the Dublin contingent was Harry of St Andrew’s College. The Sandymount boy is hoping to head to Oxford University where he will study economics and management.
There was more joy in Cork as two students received the coveted top marks. Alex said that he hopes studying chemistry in UCD will lead him to make breakthroughs in cancer research.
Elsewhere in the county Liam, from Midleton College, was also celebrating.
“Liam is one of triplets, so it is a big day in his household today,” said principal Edward Gash.
In Galway, Lorcan, from Salthill, who attended Yeats College in the city, was already looking forward to the All-Ireland final on Sunday, where he hoped there would be more to celebrate.
“He’ll follow his brother and sisters into medicine now. He got fabulous support from all his teachers,” said Lorcan’s proud mum.