Cathy Nesbitt (35), Dublin-based office worker, from Tara, Co Meath.

Score: 38/40 - pass

CATHY has a full licence, has been driving for about 17 years and passed her test first time. She drives a Ford Focus and covers an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 miles a year. Cathy had no problem with most of the questions but was caught out by the braking distances. One of her incorrect answers related to the direction of travel on a roundabout, where she said traffic moves to the right of a roundabout.

"Traffic goes around a roundabout in a circle, and the direction of the circle is to the right," she said.

It's a fair point.

Mary (25), which is not her real name, is a Dublin-based office worker, from Dublin. Score: 33/40 - fail

MARY, who decided after she failed the test that she did not want to be identified for fear of embarrassment, has had a full licence for a year. She drives a Toyota Starlet belonging to her parents to the train station from her home each day, clocking up very low mileage. Mary was also tripped up by a number of braking distance questions and one about the effect of a "broken lens" on one's perception while driving. She also answered a question about the meaning of a double broken white line in the middle of the road incorrectly, and also one about what documents are needed to tax a car.

Thomas Clancy (49), bus driver instructor, from Co Kildare.

Score 39/40 - pass

THOMAS, a former bus driver and now a driver instructor for Dublin Bus and lecturer at the National College of Ireland, said he did not agree with the terminology used in a number of questions, especially one which categorised motorcycles in relation to their energy output in kilowatts rather than in CCs or bhp.

Thomas took longest of all those who took the test, taking his time and allowing himself more than 25 minutes to complete it. He got one question wrong: the one about how to reverse a car with a trailer attached.

Thomas has been driving for 32 years. He owns a Volkswagen Passat, but cycles 12 miles each way to and from work. He passed his test first time and has a clean licence. "There are a lot of bad drivers on the roads because there are no standards for driving instructors," he said.

Sally Morrison (24), Dublin-based office worker, from Dublin.

Score 34/40 - fail.

SALLY, who has a full licence for two years and passed her test first time, drives a Ford Ka. Her annual mileage is extremely low, she said. The questions which threw her were those on motorcycles and motorcycle driving.

"I didn't think I would be expected to know about motorbikes, since I don't drive one and I've no intention of ever getting on one," she said. Sally also got the stopping distance questions wrong and a question about the correct procedure for reversing with a trailer.

"I'll have to study up."

Willy Morris(40), taxi driver, from Dublin.

Score: 38/40 - pass

WILLY took second-longest to complete the test, allowing himself 22 minutes to contemplate his answers. One of those he got wrong was a braking distance question. "I know how far I should be away [from the car] in front, but I don't know the distances off the top of my head," he said. Willy was also denied full marks for answering the "reversing trailer" question wrongly.

His own pet hates about Irish drivers include the bad habit of stopping in box junctions and overtaking a queue of traffic using the outside turning lane. Willy thinks the theory test will be "a huge advantage" to people. "It means that before people can get a licence they will have to know the rules of the road."

Willy has a full licence for 19 years and passed his test second time round. He drives a Mercedes and covers significantly more than the average mileage each year.

Peter Murtagh (48), Opinion Page Editor with The Irish Times, from Greystones, Co Wicklow,

Score: 38/40 - pass

PETER has been driving for about 30 years. One of the thousands of people granted a so-called "Mickey-Mouse" licence in the famous Sylvester Barrett amnesty, he has never taken a driving test. He drives either a Volvo estate or a Ford Mondeo estate, but doesn't drive to work every day. He covers slightly more than the national average in mileage each year.

"Some of the questions were funny," he said. "But you can see a practical application to all the questions and I can relate them to what will confront people on the roads - if nothing else, it will force new drivers to think before they get on the road. But one of the biggest problems with driving is enforcement: there's almost none."

Conor Faughnan (32), public affairs manager for AA, from Dublin.

Score: 36/40 - pass

CONOR has been driving with a full licence for 10 years. He says he deserved to fail his test the first time round, but passed on the second attempt. He drives a Renault Laguna and covers about 14,000 miles a year. With an appointment pending, he took just five minutes to complete the 40 questions and was exasperated to see what he got wrong.

"I literally misread the questions," he said. "I got four braking distance questions, which were a bit tricky. But some you could answer intuitively and they weren't difficult at all. It's a fair test and relatively easy. I should have got 40. It's reasonably easy to read up on the questions. I would urge people to swot up on them."

He made one "glaring error" on a question about a bus lane sign, he says. "It was literally a slip. People will have to be very careful they don't do themselves out of the test. They should take plenty of time and think about the answers."