Madam, - I read with great interest your report (now an annual feature) regarding the performance of girls versus boys in this year's Junior Certificate ("Girls still do better than boys in Junior Certificate", The Irish Times, September 13th).
A similar trend of female superiority has been observed in the Leaving Certificate, as reported in your newspaper last month.
As a male who had just received his Leaving results, it made me nostalgic for the days when exceptional male academic performance was routinely celebrated in the Irish media at the expense of the fairer (and apparently more intelligent) sex.
Perhaps, to further enhance our healthy examination of education as a team sport, you could publish a cross-section of exam success with respect to race, religion, or eye-colour.
I, for one, would be keen to see the results. And, hypothetically, I am sure The Irish Timeswould print with great satisfaction a report under the headline: "Protestants wipe floor with Catholics In Leaving Cert results". - Yours, etc,
OISÍN MURPHY, Coolgreaney Road, Arklow, Co Wicklow.