Leaving Cert Results: Student driven to succeed by taximan

Ian Fitzhenry can thank an alert taximan and a garda patrol crew. Ian, a student at Sexton Street CBS, almost didn’t sit English Paper 1, on the first day of the Leaving Cert, in June, because he misread the bus timetable.

The 17-year-old, from Patrickswell, recalled: “The bus stop is only five minutes from our house, at Sycamore Heights. The bus usually came at 8.50am. But I was standing there as the minutes ticked by, not realising there was a new schedule in place. The exam was due to start at 9.30am. In panic, I started to text my brothers and sisters. My brother, Gary, who was coming home from a night shift at Tesco, came to the bus stop and gave me money to get a taxi.

“We rang for a taxi and one arrived within five minutes. As the taxi got closer to Raheen, the traffic was getting heavier and I was really geting worried that I might not get to the exam on time.

“Fortunately, the taxi driver saw a garda patrol car travelling behind him and flagged it down and told him my story. The patrol car then gave us an escort, with blue lights flashing and siren blaring through the traffic. With their help, I managed to get to Sexton Street with three minutes to spare. I owe the guards and the taximan a debt of gratitude for enabling me get the good result I got in English Paper 1. It’s a case of ‘all’s well that ends well’.”

Ian plans to study sports recreation at Limerick Central College, with the ambition of later going on to UL to further his studies.

Of the 86 students who got their results at CBS Sexton Street, the top eight achievers in the Leaving will get a JP McManus scholarship, worth €6,750 for each year of their primary-degree studies at third level. Mr McManus initiated the scholarhip scheme in 1997, at his old alma mater. School principal, Tom Prendergast, said of the scholarship: “Just as valuable as the funding is having it on their CVs”.