Irish Examiner view: Saluting the dreamers — the Leaving Cert students

The Leaving Certificate results will be issued to students on Friday. File picture

The elegiac tribute by the poet Billy O'Hanluain to all of tomorrow’s Leaving Certificate students is a mesmerising reminder that not all, or indeed most, of our reserves of human capital can be measured by a set of examination results.

This year’s class of '21 has held the shortest straw for many decades with learning disrupted, face-to-face relationships with teachers and friends dislocated, lessons confined to video conferencing, and the vagaries of network connections. 

Today’s students have had to be tough, resilient, and resourceful to complete their work. But they are through it now and Friday morning is a new dawn in their lives. 

It is incumbent on us all to help them succeed and grow in confidence.

O'Hanluain reminds us that talent and achievement comes in many forms, shapes, and sizes, and today we should share the sentiment in just one paragraph from a memorable piece of writing.

"No, this morning, I salute the dreamers, the ones who ploughed through their own furrow against the grain, the dancers and chancers, the schemers, the unsung heroes of the magical space between the classes, the bike shed kissers and smokers, the ones whose crooked branches could never be bent straight.”