Bid battle for notes leaves Cillian €2,844 better off

ONE of this year’s most successful Leaving Certificate students is this morning almost €3,000 richer after anxious school-goers rushed to buy the secret to his success.

Just a fortnight ago Cillian Fahy, 18, from New Quay in Co Clare, made national headlines after receiving full marks in maths, English, Irish, French, music, history and physics.

In an unusual move, the Gort Community School graduate who is set to study English literature and maths at Trinity College Dublin decided to put his notes for six of the seven subjects up for sale on the online shopping site eBay.

Despite an initial €40 price tag being placed on the items, a major bidding war ensued. And as a result, in just one week the 18-year-old has seen his bank balance rise by a massive €2,844.37 — more than 12 times higher than the initial €240 figure for all six subject notes.

“I’m really amazed by the interest, I never thought there would be such a response,” admitted Cillian.

“These notes are of no use to me now, but I felt they might be of use to the next person coming along, so I decided to put them up online.

“In the one week they were available there were more than 5,000 views, more than 200 bids and the prices just kept on getting higher.

“The notes are fairly extensive so if someone found them useful then I would be happy,” the young entrepreneur added.

Among the recipients of the notes after the seven-day auction are two sets of parents who rushed to make bids in an attempt to help their children prepare for next year’s exams.

While Cillian’s not-so-top-secret documents come with a warning that they do not guarantee success on their own, they still attracted significant individual attention.

In total, 58 bids were made for the French notes, which ultimately cost €1,100; 56 bids for maths (€1,020); 31 for English (€271.87); 50 for history (€192.50); 34 for Irish (€140); and 15 for music (€120).

He insists old-fashioned hard work is ultimately what helped him to achieve his impressive Leaving Cert grades and said he is now looking forward to enjoying his first months of life at third-level. * [e-mail]