The geography papers - so often the cause of great distress among students - passed off relatively uneventfully this year.

The higher-level paper was described as fair, although some teachers said their students were unnerved by the compulsory map question.

Billy Fitzpatrick, who teaches at Pearse College, Dublin, said the map did not have a pointer or arrow on it and this meant the map lacked "orientation".

He said this change was not flagged by the Department of Education and was unfair to students.

John Mulcahy, ASTI subject representative, a teacher in Bishopstown, Co Cork, said many of the problems with the higher-level paper were caused by the use of unusual language.

The map question on Ardee, Co Louth, asked students about the "evolution" of the town. "It seemed a strange word to use in the first question. Development would seem more appropriate," said Mulcahy.

He said a diagram was used in the physical geography question, but no reference was made to it in the text. "It only ended up wasting student's time," he said.

He welcomed the inclusion of a development studies question and said question 4 on nuclear energy was topical and allowed students to give their opinions in a forceful way.

He said the regional geography section, particularly the part on natural resources, was strange because it failed to include Italy or France.

In a strange co-incidence, Italy was also excluded from the ordinary level paper.

Apart from this apparent prejudice against Italians, the ordinary level paper was generally fair, said Mulcahy.