“I will just go in there and do my best.” That was Cara Darmody’s steady take this week as the 15-year-old from Ardfinnan, Co Tipperary, prepared to sit her real Junior Cert exam. For many students, the Junior Cert exam is a first big test. For Cara Darmody, it comes four years after she scored 97 per cent in a maths paper she took at just 11 during her campaign for better supports for children with additional needs.
Now, the disability rights campaigner is back in the exam hall for the official thing on Friday. She says maths is still her favourite subject. Even so, she has admitted there is pressure. “I have high expectations of myself,” she said, adding that she plans to focus on doing her best.
A milestone week for Cara Darmody
Cara Darmody has already done more than most adults in public life. Her campaigning was driven by the experiences of her younger brothers, Neil and John, who have intellectual disabilities and autism. Over the past few years, she has held 50-hour protests outside Dáil Éireann, attended dozens of ministerial meetings and helped keep national attention on long waits for assessments of need.
Her efforts also led to tangible results:
- €82,000 raised for autism services
- The creation of Cara’s Fund by the Government
- More than €37 million secured for assessments
- Support aimed at 10,000 people on waiting lists
Her parents, Mark and Noelle, said they have been anxious for her as exams began. Like any family, they want her to have room to simply be 15 as well.
This week’s Junior Cert exam is another chapter in a story many across Tipperary and beyond have followed closely. But it is also something simpler: a teenager heading in with a pencil case, a favourite subject and a level head. Cara Darmody has already left her mark far beyond the classroom. On Friday, she returns to it. Image Courtesy: The Irish Times
