Reaction: Dublin:On the 66th day following a controversial maths examination which caused an upsurge of worry and concern in households countrywide, intensive postmortems and jubilant celebrations gripped some 54,000 students of Ireland yesterday.
The date, June 12th, 2006, on which thousands of students exited exam halls convinced they had failed honours, pass and foundation maths papers will forever be etched in the memories of teachers, parents and students.
Yesterday marked the 66th day of their patient and anxious wait. Yesterday, all talk was of the subject students love to hate - maths.
Amid scenes of students drawing nervously on cigarettes and running to the safe hideout of a car to open the A4 brown envelopes which would reveal an end to six years of preparation, Mark Bannon of St Kevin's CBS in Finglas, described as "fabulous" his honour in honours maths, which would now guarantee his entry to engineering in DCU.
Fellow students Alan Cummins, James Walsh and Lorcain Dawson all united in a back-slapping exercise on passing the subject which caused numerous sleepless nights and frequent postmortems.
Inside, their principal Martin Duggan summoned students to a table where all 22 brown envelopes were carefully laid out, and handed each their treasured envelope with the words "Well done, I think you'll be pleased."
Eager to exit the school building, for perhaps the last time, the principal was then forced to run after his past pupils in order to disperse Department of Education appeal guidelines. "Take this in case you want to rattle the Department's cage," he laughed.
In contrast to the boys' sedate analysis and reactions, the St Mary's secondary school, Holy Faith Convent in Glasnevin where over 100 girls received their results, provided louder and more pronounced celebrations. Having queued from 8.30am with their Leaving Cert "Playboy Party" tickets in tow, students screamed and hugged in a celebration of passing maths.
As students began to frantically write text messages, hold three-way phone conferences while posing for photographs and discussing the night ahead, attention turned to the student lovingly referred to as "the genius".
Having arrived from London yesterday morning, Yvonne Sweeney collected her envelope revealing seven A1s which was confirmation of a place on a physiotherapy course in Trinity College.