There were few complaints about yesterday's history papers, which afforded students a good choice. Mr Donough O'Brien, TUI subject representative and a teacher at Community College, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, said the ordinary-level paper was fair. He had a minor quibble with question 4 in section B: the first part, which dealt with Cumann na nGaedheal governments, was very long.
The short questions in the European section were interesting, while the essays were straightforward, he said.
The higher-level paper also elicited praise from Mr O'Brien. Most students take the modern course, and question A was particularly good, he said. However, section D had an over-emphasis on post1945 and a concentration on Russia.
The ASTI subject representative, Mr John O'Sullivan, agreed. "The lesson that they may be sending us is to concentrate on the post-war period rather than the 1920s and 1930s."
He said sections A and B on the modern course offered "a very generous choice". In section B, he picked out question five on Sean Lemass as "lovely".
There would be a lot of disappointment with the final section, more than one teacher said - the marks allocated to the research topic were altered, from 60 out of 80 down to just 45. Yvonne Healy adds: By Yvonne Healy Yesterday's higher-level Leaving Certificate economic history paper was mostly good news, according to Mr Des Cowman, who teaches at Tramore CBS, Co Waterford. However, he did have "a few quibbles". To answer question 10, for example, students would have to have had a knowledge of post-Independence politics - outside the parameters of the course.
On the ordinary-level paper question 1 was "shoddy", he said. Section A dealt with the period 1660-1850, yet students were asked to describe land-ownership changes between 1600 and 1700.
Sample Leaving Cert history, ordinary level
Write a short paragraph on each of TWO of the following. Each carries 20 marks. 1 The invasion of Italy, 1494-1495, by King Charles VII of France; 2 St Ignatius Loyola and the Society of Jesus; 3 The conquest of Mexico by Cortes; 4 England during the reign of Edward VI, 1547-1553; 5 Geneva under John Calvin; 6 Henry IV of France, 1598-1610
