STATE EXAMS: Junior Cert Irish mostly fair but parts of higher level testy

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.

The ordinary level paper was described by Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) subject spokesperson Séamus Ó Fearaigh as a fine exam that should not have caused any major difficulties. He said the standard kinds of questions were to the fore in the reading comprehension section, and he thought the letter and short article tasks were okay.

Mr Ó Fearaigh said the higher level paper was fair, and comprehension passages about the Oireachtas na Gaeilge festival and New Zealand-Irish singer Lorde were very current. He thought the selection of essays was mostly fine, particularly one about a favourite Irish sports star, a topic on mock exams used by many schools this year.