Leaving Certificate Irish/ordinary level: Students sitting the ordinary level Leaving Cert Irish reported very positively about the paper which was markedly more topical and clear-cut than previous years.

The highly marked essay question which provided the option of writing a conversation between a teenager who returns late from socialising to be greeted by an irate mother lightened the mood of anxious students yesterday according to Irish teachers.

However the decision to base the two comprehensions, which are worth 40 more marks than the lengthy essay writing, on two sporting personalities met mixed reaction yesterday.

Students had to answer five questions on former Meath football manager Seán Boylan and Cork camogie player Riona Buckley, which may not have appealed to the non-sports enthusiast, according to Robbie Cronin, ASTI representative and teacher in Marian College, Ballsbridge, Dublin. Generally, he said, students were "thrilled" with the paper.

In relation to the aural exam, Marian Ní Laoire, a TUI representative and teacher in Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Blarney, Co Cork, said the listening tape was clear and straightforward, with the exception of one dialogue which was too fast.

She concluded that while students may have been confronted with a lot of new terminology which they may have struggled to comprehend, the paper was very accessible.