Leaving a different mark

Do you need a brilliant Leaving Cert to get on in life? Not necessarily, according to some of the most successful people in Ireland.

Students at Ringsend College after collecting their Leaving Cert results last year Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

For Cathal Gaffney, the opening of the envelope that contained his Leaving Cert results left a bitter aftertaste. Gaffney, now the chief executive of Brown Bag Films, did the one thing that you are told above all else not to do – he failed maths.

The sinking feeling that comes with getting results which don’t live up to expectations may be familiar to some students who received their results last week. For some, ...