Delight and joy as the Leaving Cert results are taken on board

SOUTH Dublin has seen an overwhelmingly positive reaction to Wednesday’s Leaving Certificate results, with many expressing their delight at the achievements of their children.

Lucan saw great success on the day as Lucan Community College and Coláiste Phadráig CBS both boasted students who achieved the maximum of 625 points.

Lucan Community College’s Eric Neville came away with a massive seven A1 results and an A2, and school principal Diane Brinie said he did “wonderfully well” and added that it was “great to see the students getting their just rewards for their hard work” in the school.

Sais Syed and Riswan Ahmed both took the maximum in Coláiste Phadraig, with school Principal Tony Brady saying he was delighted that all their hard work had paid off to see them inside the top percentage of students in the country.

Firhouse Community College student Martha Knight managed an impressive 615 points, while Coláiste Bride’s Mistura Kareem scored 580.

Despite national reports of increased failure rates in mathematics, several schools in the area reported great results in higher level maths, with Tallaght Community School Principal Teresa Hennessy saying her students were “reaping the rewards with the impact of maths on their points”.

Firhouse CC reported that 65 per cent of their Higher Level maths students achieved an honour in the subject, with Principal Mark McDonald saying the class overall did “really, really well”.

Diane Brinie also noted that Lucan CC had “bucked that national trend, with a very small number of students failing mathematics.”

Other schools, including St Kevin’s Community College in Clondalkin and Kylemore College in Ballyfermot, also reported excellent results in both higher level Maths and English, with St Kevin’s Deputy Principal Michael Flynn saying the school’s results this year were “some of the best we’ve ever had” with a significant portion of students scoring well over the 400 points mark.

Mark McDonald also praised his higher level English class, saying that they had “lots of A’s in English” and commenting that his class were one of the top classes in the country for overall results.

Killinarden Community School Principal Adrienne Whelan made special mention of her Leaving Certificate Applied Students, saying that “they all did really very well and so far they’re all delighted with their results”, with Lucan CC also congratulating “Shannon Knowles and Sophie O’Sullivan, who worked steadily over the two years and achieved the highest LCA results in the college.”

Focus for the students turns now to Monday’s first round of the CAO offers, and many of the principals hope that students will find success in fields that they love.

Coláiste na hIde Principal Deiric Mac an Bhaird urged students to “choose the courses you want to do”, with Michael Flynn echoing that sentiment, saying that every student should “follow their heart and choose a course they genuinely like”.

For those that do not get the offers they wanted, Kylemore College Deputy Principal Niall McGovern urged people to “use all the support services in the community”, while Mark McDonald reminded students that the Leaving Certificate results “don’t define you” and that there are “always alternative ways to get into what you want”.

All principals urged students to return to or get in contact with their schools to talk to their guidance councillors if they had any trouble with their results or need to re-evaluate their future options.

Helplines are also always open to students, such as TeenLine on 1800 833 634 or Samaritans on 116 123, and help can also be found as well at your local Foróige office or at www.foroige.ie.