Play is off limits as the testing times begin

In the school of legends and rebels, the beloved Ken Doherty snooker room was yesterday designated an off limits area for the duration of the State exams.

As students of CBS Westland Row in Dublin city filed through the corridors, where once rebel leader Pádraig Pearse, actor Cyril Cusack and world snooker champion Ken Doherty walked, the English papers postmortems began.

Leaving Cert student Éimear Brennan insisted however there would be no postmortems in her presence, as advised by the Minister for Education on radio yesterday morning.

Such students intent on leaving the school buildings without enduring an exam tribunal diverted discussions to the tie principal Ken Duggan was modelling.

"Every year at the annual graduation, the students present me with a tie and it's now tradition for me to wear it on the first day of their exams," said Mr Duggan. "They're really a great bunch of kids, we get on very well and enjoy a great rapport."

Reflecting this relationship between staff and students, third-level admission rates for the school have increased from about 9 per cent to 90 per cent in six years, alongside improved attendance and lower drop-out rates.

In recent weeks, the climax to the approaching exams was marked with teachers providing block revision periods and undertaking extra tuition classes until 6pm at the request of students.

In conjunction with the heightened exam focus, the Ken Doherty Cup was concluded and the room with five pool tables donated by Doherty closed until the conclusion of the exams.

Almost unique to the school is the fact that all students must undertake home economics at both Junior and Leaving Cert level.

The school student of the year, Victor Pessoa da Silva from Rio, Brazil, who came to Ireland three years ago, described the start of the Leaving Cert exams as "very stressful".

Junior Certificate students Danielle Larkin, Gemma Kelly and Shauna Kelly, unaccustomed to reading of ploughing championships and associated farming matters, described the advertisement section of the ordinary level English paper as "bizarre" but manageable.