Happy endings after a year of struggle

At 10am yesterday Palmerstown Community School in west Dublin was buzzing with excitement.

At 10am yesterday Palmerstown Community School in west Dublin was buzzing with excitement.

As the Leaving Certificate results were handed out, small groups of students formed - chattering, congratulating, commiserating. And, among the girls, there was hugging. Lots of hugging.

The occasional shriek of relief pierced the morning.

"I can't believe I've passed!" laughed one girl, waving the sheet of paper above her head and jumping up and down.

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Some of the lads were a little more restrained. "How did you do?" asked one.

"Grand," replied his mate. "Grand. Will we head?"

"Yeah."

For another couple of students in the school, the day marked the end of a struggle, not just with the ins and outs of maths, biology or construction studies, but with the Department of Justice and the laws of immigration.

Kunle Elukanlo from Nigeria has been in the limelight since he was very publicly removed from the State and then brought back to sit his exams after he managed, with the help of his classmates, to overturn Minister for Justice Michael McDowell's deportation order.

"I am very happy with my results," he said, adding that he would like to do a post-Leaving Cert course in engineering, starting in the autumn. Whether he will still be allowed in the country by that stage remains to be seen.

"I haven't heard anything about that yet but I hope to continue my education here in Ireland," he said.

Another student in Palmerstown Community School who could also face deportation is Tunde Omoniyi.

"I am absolutely happy today. I thought I might have messed up but now I am really delighted. When I opened the envelope and saw the results, I nearly fainted," he said.