X-factor stars Jedward may have opted for fame instead of the Leaving Certificate, but that didn't stop them from featuring in this year's English examination.
The pop duo was featured in the Leaving certigicate ordinary level paper, which was a “nice” paper according to students at Larkin Community College in Dublin 1.
“I was able to answer every question fully on the paper and it was easy enough overall,” 18-year-old Alan Brogan from Ballybough said.
"We had to write a letter to a director or artist so I wrote a letter to Bob Dylan saying his Hurricane song about the imprisonment of Rubin Carter was inspirational," he added.
Aaron Dolan, who is doing the Leaving Cert applied programme at the school said : “I found the paper difficult but I definitely think I passed”.
The 18-year-old said his mind went blank when answering one question which “drove me mad”.
Eoin O'Reilly, an English teacher at the school, said he was happy enough with the paper as nothing out of the ordinary came up.
"There were a lot of questions about school libraries in the Junior Certificate ordinary level paper which is very topical right now as our own library is under threat," he added.
The Leaving Certificate higher level paper was also welcomed by students and teachers alike, who reported questions that ranged from “easy” to “good”, with no complaints from anyone about the timing for questions.
Higher-level students kicked off the Leaving cert with a paper on the future. The paper was divided into two sections: comprehension and composing.
Emma Neenan from Ratoath, Co Meath said: “I thought it was really good, it was a nice paper and the theme was the future which I liked”.
The sixth year pupil at Loreto College on St Stephen’s Green said the paper included a comprehension on Seamus Heaney as well as an essay section for which she wrote a speech.
“I wrote a speech for my sixth year graduation class on the theme of optimism for the future. I told them not to dwell on the bad things in life”.
The 18-year-old added: “I’m a bit worried about paper 2 as that is going to be unpredictable. I hope Eavan Boland comes up”.
Belvedere College student John Sanfoy (18) from Glasnevin said the paper was “grand” as “not much studying was required for it”.
“I wrote a short story about asking a girl out, it was kind of autobiographical,” he said, adding: “I’m more nervous about English paper 2 . . . I’ll probably be up until all hours studying for that tonight”.
The Junior Certificate English paper also received a positive response from students.
Shelly Ryan (15), a student at Larkin Community College said: “I was delighted as my predictions for the paper came up”.
Her friend, 15-year-old Demi Kearns said the paper was "easy", adding she was glad to be able to write about Romeo and Juliet.