Junior Certificate students were tested on their Irish skills yesterday, with higher level candidates having two papers to sit, but others just having one in the morning.

One of the country’s premier Irish cultural festivals, which is expected to attract up to 10,000 visitors by the weekend, is under way in Killarney.

BATT O’KEEFFE could hardly have chosen a more ironic moment to speak about the longevity of people from the Sliabh Luachra region of north Cork from which he hails — just as chanting students outside the building in which he was speaking were closing in fast.