Leaving Certificate Irish: paper II: Students who expected questions from previous years to come up again in the history section of yesterday's Leaving Certificate higher-level paper two may have been in for a surprise.

But there was a positive reaction in general to yesterday's paper, which focused on literature, history, poetry and the novel. Unlike last year, many major themes and characters appeared, earning praise from teachers and students alike.

According to Robbie Cronin from Marian College in Dublin and the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland subject representative in Irish, many pupils would have expected either fiannaíocht or rúraíocht to have appeared in the history of Irish section. In recent years, these have appeared on alternate occasions, with rúraíocht widely tipped to come up this year.

Since many students are advised to ease themselves into the paper by starting with this section, the non-appearance of either of these may have "flummoxed" them, he said.

"But the reaction overall was very good to the paper," he said. "There was nothing too surprising."

Dónal Ó Loinsigh, the TUI subject representative, agreed that some students may have been expecting certain questions to have appeared in the history of Irish section. But students who had done their homework would have been prepared for this, he said.

"I don't see any major difficulty. I would expect students to have done better than last year."

Yvonne O'Toole of skoool.ie and a teacher at Holy Faith Secondary School in Clontarf in Dublin also described yesterday's higher-level paper as a "lovely paper", with many of the topics which students would have been hoping for appearing.

"Overall, the two papers were lovely. . . I really couldn't have expected anything better."

At ordinary level, students were presented with a "dream" paper, according to Mr Cronin.Three of the five set poems came up, and students who had done "any work at all" could be confident of doing well.

"The lads were very happy with it, there were no complaints whatsoever," he said. "There were no surprises at all and that is what you would expect at ordinary level."

Claire Grealy of the Institute of Education in Dublin also agreed that the ordinary-level paper overall was very satisfactory for ordinary-level students.However, the appearance of the poem Treall may have presented some students with difficulties, she added.

Higher-level Junior Certificate students would have been tired after what was a fair if demanding second paper yesterday.

According to Ms O'Toole, the title of the first comprehension piece - which translates as silence is not golden - may also have been difficult for some students.

The unseen poetry section might have proved challenging, particularly for weaker students, she added.

However, overall she was "very happy with the paper", as were her students.

"It certainly allowed students to express themselves," she said. "They would have written to the last second."

Mr Cronin said the inclusion of a glossary of terms for the comprehension piece might have been considered.

"But the students were very happy," he added. "Once you see the lads coming out of an exam happy, you know the people who have set it have done well."