‘I opened the envelope and that was that’

Nerves were jangling but by no means shredded in Coláiste Chill Mhantáin, the school which featured this year's The Irish Times Leaving Cert diarists.

It was all quite understated, according to Seán O’Callaghan, who was “over the moon” with a tally of 505 points. That will easily see him west-bound for an arts degree in NUI Galway.

“I opened the envelope and that was that,” he said. “Everybody was grand getting the results. No one was freaking out.”

Back in June, Rory O’Carroll was a little downbeat when writing his diary after English paper two. The angst, it turns out, was ill-founded as he walked away with 550 points.

Best of all, he got his course in veterinary physiotherapy in Harper Adams University in Shropshire. “I needed three As to get in and I got them. That’s all that matters. I’m delighted,” he said.

His fellow diarist, Orla Yeates, has had it all sewn up since last April when she accepted a place to train as a care assistant. She did a lot better than she expected. "I even got a good grade in geography. I was sure I was going to fail that."

It won’t change her plans though: she has always had an ambition to work in the care profession and feels she had made the right choice, geography or not.

Not everyone is full of delight today: inevitably some students did not hit the mark they were aiming for.

Manov T Manoj was “not sure” if he would be celebrating, as he won’t be able to get a clear picture of what’s happening next until the first offers are made on Monday. He was aiming high, for medicine.

Clinton Byrne was just relieved it was all over. He felt he had secured enough points to get an offer of his first-preference course studying English and drama at UCD.

Eventually he hopes to go to London and work as an actor, but for now he’s delighted at the prospect of a daily commute to Dublin for the next three years.

With a place at Bray Institute of Further Education's fashion design course in the bag, Lauren Vickers was less nervous than she might otherwise have been. A total of 310 points along with the pleasant surprise of a high mark in English meant that she was "happy enough".

She, like all of her fellow diarists, is looking forward to leaving the Leaving far behind. As for the next step? Bring it on.

Hear more from our diarists in next Monday’s College Choice supplement as the CAO offers are revealed.