It’s a great honour to be here this evening, but I must admit that this is, by some distance, the most surreal invitation I have received. It’s only five years since I sat my Leaving Cert here, and I still feel like I should be sitting among the students, waiting for whoever the speaker is to finish, so I could get out to enjoy a decent Friday night. I apologize in advance if the next few minutes seem to drag on, but I’ll be as brief as I can.

As someone who has been through what you are going through, I’ve got a few words of advice. Firstly, the most important thing is to remember that things will get better. For those of you who have completed the Leaving Cert, I offer my congratulations. For those of you who will undertake it this year, I offer my condolences. Having been through a fair few difficult and stressful events in recent years, I’m sorry to say that the Leaving Certificate was the most difficult.

As they saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. I have yet to find any feeling that compares to that of finishing your Leaving Cert, and getting your results. And, as I said before, things will get better. Here in St Eunan’s you are prepared for the world ahead, but they have to fit an awful lot into a very short time-frame. That’s not an easy job.

The first piece of advice I will offer you is this: keep the head down, and get through it. There is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The Leaving Cert system is far from perfect, but it’s the only system we have. I tried fighting against the system but, trust me, it gets you nowhere. If you can, at all, focus your energies on getting through the work in front of you.

Some of you will go on to work, while others will go on in education. Either way, life becomes more flexible, and you will get more control. Life is never easy, but as the saying goes everything worth having has it’s price. Your experiences here have set you up for everything life will throw at you. No deadline will ever be as solid, or final, as the last few hours leading up to a Leaving Cert exam. College exams can be re-sat, and work deadines can sometimes be flexible, particularly if you’re working for the Government.

Without wanting to repeat a point you’re probably sick hearing, I’d like to offer a piece of advice particularly for fifth year students. This comes from personal experience, and from witnessing it happen in real life. On your CAO form, pick the courses you want to do, in the order you want them. Don’t pick courses purely based on points. I have seen many people who scored over 500 points picking high-points courses because “they think they should�. Almost to a man, they either dropped out, or didn’t enjoy their courses, or are working in something completely unconnected. On the other hand, the smartest person I know, who scored 580 points here in 2000, and undertook a course which required only 340 points. He’s currently in Japan working on his PHd, and has loved every minute of his course.

You’ll get on much better if you do something you enjoy. This counts as much for College courses as it does for jobs.

Some of you, despite your best efforts, will not get the points you need. I didn’t get the points I needed. But life will always give you options. Without fail, the rewards go to those who put in the hard work. If you don’t get the points for your architecture course, you can study as a technician and then on to a degree course. This may take a few years longer, but I have seen time and time again that it is those who show the dedication that get the success.

We often hear about so many hugely succesful people who have done well in life despite having dropped out of college. Notable examples include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. What they really have in common is an enduring hard-work ethic. Richard Branson works from 6am, every day of the week, and the stories about Steve Jobs and his 100 hundred works are legendary.

I’d like to pay tribute to your teachers here, as many of them where my teachers. While I won’t name any names, there are many teachers here who had a huge impact on my time here, and had a huge effect on my development both educationally and personally. I’d like to acknowledge Mr Antoin Coll, who was my form head here in my senior years. His tireless work and great rapport with the students meant he was able to control a class of 42 for Honours Irish, while maintaining a great classroom atmosphere. Antoin will be sorely missed by all who knew him. Mostly, I’d like to thank the teachers who reported me to Father Carney in my final year, for not doin enough work. Yes, I was more than a little bit angry at the time, but it helped me get my studies and work back on track.

I had a fantastic time at St Eunans. I learned an awful amount about myself, about life and about people. I even managed to pick up some German and Irish on the side. The last few years in secondary school are the most important, most formative years of your life. Personalities and friendships develop, and you start to figure out what you want to do with your life. I can almost guarantee that you won’t know, when it comes time to fill in forms, but you’ll have a much better idea than you would a few years ago. Don’t worry. Life will always leave you options.

Congratulations again to all of you on your achievements, and good luck in the future, whatever it may hold. If you can get through the Leaving Cert, you can get through anything.

Thank you.

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