JUNIOR CERT IRISH: HIGHER LEVEL:WHILE PAPER I may have been a "tasty treat", according to The Irish Times' study guide expert Eamonn Maguire, Junior Cert students found the higher level Irish paper II a lot less palatable.

"The questions that followed the poems were difficult," Mr Maguire said. "The dreaded question 'Mínigh a bhfuil í gceist ag an bhfile' reared its ugly head."

To ask students what a poet meant in an unseen poem is unusually difficult for a Junior Cert exam, according to Mr Maguire. For this year's students it occurred not once, but twice. "That will leave a very sour taste in the mouth."

The second part of section two, in which students were asked to relate themes such as family, sport or death to a novel, short story or a drama they had studied, was a nasty surprise for many. "Those themes were not expected,"he added.

Literature questions at least were well received and presented no real problems for students.