There was a disappointing lack of good luck cards signed "Bertie" on the walls of St Aidan's CBS in Whitehall yesterday, but the young men congregating at the Taoiseach's old alma mater didn't seem to care. Their only concern was the Leaving Cert results, writes Olivia Kelly
"There wasn't sight nor sound of Bertie, not even a good luck text. I'm not heartbroken though, I've the results to get yet," Diarmuid Kelly said as he waited anxiously outside the school.
Diarmuid was one of the first to arrive at St Aidan's yesterday. Getting there at 9.30 a.m., he was a little early he admitted, but time becomes a strange dimension when you're waiting for your results.
"I didn't fall asleep until 5 a.m. but I woke up early anyway. I left home at the usual time, but for some reason the walk to school was far shorter this morning."
Diarmuid then had the longest half-hour of his life to endure but the time-warp eventually ended at 10 a.m. when the school doors opened and the results were revealed.
"I got 455 points; I was aiming for 400. I'm hoping to do construction technology in DIT Bolton Street, so I should have enough for that. I'm over the moon."
Like many other students, Diarmuid's one big worry had been biology. However, he got a B3, one of his best marks.
Liam O'Brien, who hopes to study accounting at DCU, was even more astounded by his results. "I got an A2 in accounting; better than I expected. I was worried about Irish, but I got a B2. Then I got a B1 in maths; I really don't know how it happened."
While Dean Taylor was only just able to take in his own results, six honours and one pass, he had some difficulty convincing others. "My mam doesn't believe me," he said, clutching his mobile phone, "She's just crying down the phone."
Brothers Seamus and Nicholas Gibbons also read their results, somewhat shakily, into their mobiles.
Seamus, the younger of the two, hopes to study Irish, history and psychology in St Patrick's College of Education in Drumcondra. "I've been a nervous wreck all week and now I'm so relieved. I got 410 points and that should be what I need."
Nicholas also felt he had enough points for his course, civil engineering, and was particularly happy with his B3 in maths.
While most parents were made keep themselves and their tears firmly at the end of the phone, some did make it down to the school.
Mr John Fitzgerald and his wife, Martina, were there to collect the results for their son, Anthony, who was away in Canada. Yet even though they had the envelope they were still in the dark. "We said we wouldn't open the results until he rang. He's not phoning until two so we still have a long wait ahead," Mr Fitzgerald said.