'Can the little squirt pass the exam?': Cara Darmody, 12, sits Leaving Cert maths

Tipperary girl, who sat the Junior Cert aged 11, admitted that she, along with many other students across the country, found the exam 'tough'

Cara Darmody with her brother John at their parents home in Ardfinnan, near Cahir, Co Tipperary. Picture: Neil Michael

Cara Darmody, the 12-year-old autism activist, has sat her Leaving Cert maths exam six years ahead of her time to raise awareness and draw attention to the 20,000 people awaiting autism assessments in Ireland.

Cara, who sat the Junior Cert aged 11, admitted that she, along with many other students across the country, found the exam "tough".

"It was fair tough. Paper 1 was definitely the hardest paper in years, and paper 2 was also quite tough, although it was a little bit easier than paper 1.

"But I suppose I can't really complain because I'm only a 12-year-old little squirt and they were asking me about mortgages and stuff like that but I don't even own a house yet," she laughed.

Speaking with Ciara Kelly on Newstalk Breakfast, Cara said she sat the exams in order to "raise awareness about the disgraceful autism and disability discrimination going on in Ireland, and to get change in the world of autism and disability". 

She is also aiming to "raise awareness about the 18,000 special needs children who are left to rot on a HSE waiting list".

The Tipperary schoolgirl said she spent "a couple of hundred hours" studying for the maths exam, alongside her dad.

"Obviously my dad's not a teacher, so we learn it together. We had a lot of fun doing it, we spent every day learning maths but it was a lot of hard work.

But the big question now is, can the little squirt pass the exam?"

Cara has also set up a Go Fund Me page called Cara's Mount Everest Maths Challenge and the Ardfinnan native said: "Every single cent and euro that goes in my fundraiser will go towards helping people who can't fight for themselves, and people who can't fight back."

So far, she has raised almost €14,000 for four charities that support her "in every way possible".

Her chosen charities are her local school, Ardfinnan NS in Co Tipperary; Scoil Chormaic Special School, where her two brothers attend; AsIAm, and Family Carers Ireland. 

Cara has been invited to meet President Michael D Higgins in Áras an Uachtaráin on Saturday, June 24. 

"What a day that will be," she said.

And as if she wasn't busy enough, she said that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar "has apparently agreed to a meeting in principle" but confirmed that no date has been set.

"Leo the Lion was missing there in action for a while, but I'm glad they've finally found him once again, so if he's listening to this I am calling for a meeting urgently," she said.

Cara scored 97%, an A1, in her Junior Cert maths exam last year and her results were read out live on last November's Late Late Show when she was a guest in the audience.

A damning report brought out by autism action group AsIAm in June 2021 found 80% of parents and guardians have had to wait a year or more to receive an autism diagnosis for their child.

Cara also has two brothers with autism — Neil, aged 10, and John, aged five.

The schoolgirl has seen her campaigning take her all the way to Leinster House, where she has met the Taoiseach and addressed an Oireachtas committee.

Last year, she addressed the Joint Committee on Autism, becoming the youngest person ever to address TDs in the House.

In an impassioned speech to the committee, Cara told TDs: “I’m sick of adults who just talk.

“Why can’t you all do something about this and stop the damage being done to children with disabilities?”