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ONE of the 55,708 students to receive their Leaving Certificate results today was Offaly Rose Emma Kirwan. Emma, from Killeigh, Co Offaly, opened her results ahead of taking to the stage in the first of the qualifying selection nights at the Festival Dome in Tralee.

The 18-year-old, who hopes to study aeronautical engineering with a view to becoming an Air Corps cadet, had her results hand-delivered by her mother and father.

Emma had to wait until 2.30pm to find out the all-important grades when he parents Grainne and Paddy arrived in Tralee. “My dad’s a bit of a slow driver,” she joked. “I was nervous, mainly about maths, it was a borderline subject for me – whether to stay in higher and ordinary level, and I did higher level, and thankfully it paid off for me.”

She added: “I had surprises in a few of my subjects. English was another one, I got an A2 in English which I was shocked by, that’s crazy for me."

Emma's choice of aeronautical engineering is available in either the University of Limerick or Carlow IT.

“I’m speechless now. I wasn’t under a huge amount of pressure, I had to get 380 or 450 points – they could increase or decrease depending on the CAO but I think I’m safe,” she said.

Emma will be interviewed by Daithí O Se tonight on stage in the Dome in Tralee.

As for nerves about the results, Emma said her participation in the Rose of Tralee International Festival is “a great distraction”.

“Last night we were all quite tired after we met all of the escorts. I got into bed and conked straight away. I was up at 6.30am thinking ‘oh today is the day’,” she said.
 

 
Offaly Rose Emma Kirwan is congratulated on her Leaving Cert results by the Melbourne Rose Meghan Griffin and the Kerry Rose Danielle O'Sullivan. PICTURE: DOMNICK WALSH