A home from home - that was how young Mark O'Sullivan felt yesterday about his first day as the only new pupil at St Michael's Primary School on Bere Island, off Castletownbere in Bantry Bay.
Mark (4) was accompanied to St Michael's by his mother, Catherine, and his older brother, Brian (6), who is in first class at the 18pupil school which serves the island's 200-strong community. There to welcome him were the principal, Ms Kathleen Twomey, and his teacher in junior infants, Ms Deirdre Ni Dhonnchadha, both of whom make the daily journey by ferry from the mainland.
Said Deirdre: "Mark's been coming along for some time when Brian is being collected so he knows everyone. He used to come into the classroom. At times we couldn't get him to leave, so it's a real home from home for him."
Also welcoming young Mark were his new classmates, James Dennehy (5) and Seamus O'Leary (5) - both in senior infants - and his brother Brian's two pals Cian Harrington (6) and David Murphy (6).
His cousin, Emma O'Sullivan (7), was also on hand to welcome the new arrival, along with her second class friends, Fiona Harrington (7), Patrick Dennehy (8) and Jeffrey Mullins (7). "It was no problem to him," Ms O'Sullivan said at the end of her son's big day. "He's looking forward to tomorrow already."