Original subtitles

This, young man, is your alarm clock call.

It's time to wake up.

In this very room, in less than six months' time, you will be facing the

biggest test of your lives.

You will start your leaving certificate exams.

The whole future of each one of you depends entirely on what you can achieve

sitting here writing for three hours at a time.

Nothing you have done before counts except what you sit down to write at

these desks.

Nothing counts but what you do in those three hours.

Your entire lifetime in school will be judged for once and for all, for better

or worse, on how you do.

If you do well, the doors of life open up for you.

If you do badly, the doors of life will be slammed in your face.

Make no mistake about it.

Failure in the leaving certificate means failure for the rest of your lives.

It's tough, but that is how it is.

You may not like this system, but grumbling about it is a waste of time, a

luxury none of you can afford.

You can't beat the system

When all it takes is a spark of your smile

That's all it takes to light up my world

Every year between 40 and 60,000 students sit the exam and it's therefore

necessary to store the grades of all students on computer database.

Finding a computer hacker and trying to break into this database is a good idea.

I thought you said this wouldn't be a problem.

It's not as simple as that. The server they're using isn't connected to

anything. No LAN connections, no internet, no phone wires.

I can't get in.

But not good enough.

You just have to steal the papers.

Have you got any idea how much security they have?

How do we get to the source of things?

Where the things are fucking printed?

Security will be light. They're not expecting anything.

It'll be no problem.

No one knows where they're printed.

What's the whole point? It's a secret.

Civil servants who work in the Department of Education know this

secret, and you can find most of them drinking in an establishment called the

Pony Pub in Dublin Four.

I organize things. I'm an organizer, I suppose you could say.

I organize papers for exams, things like that. Right now I'm working on a thing

called a leaving cert.

My God, and you're the man in charge.

Well, I don't know about being in charge, but I pull things together. I

have a function. I do my job.

Pays the bills.

Buys a few scoops.

Sounds very exciting.

Well, I think there's a lot more exciting things you don't like to be

talking about, actually.

We can talk about anything you'd like to talk about.

You're looking at my leg.

As if I would.

So tell me, you're not seriously talking to me about education?

I'm just curious. You know, Irish ways, Irish people.

Like... Whereabouts are the papers printed?

Norway.

That's it.

We can't go to Norway, for fuck's sake.

Meanwhile, it's crucial to keep up appearances at school.

Higher English, D1. Higher French, D1. Biz, Org, D3.

Physics failed.

History failed.

Higher Maths, D2.

Higher Arts, E1.

E1.

You were always one of the bright ones.

You come from a good family.

Why do I get the impression that all of a sudden you've just given up?

Maybe it was when Cian died.

Yeah, he was a friend of mine.

You picked your friends poorly, Fionn.

That boy, the damage he did to the school.

You've got to put all this behind you.

You've got the rest of your life to consider.

Have you any thoughts about a career?

Not really, sir.

Well, isn't that time you had?

If you don't let me sit the leaving cert, sir, there isn't much point, is

there?

I'll give you one last chance.

I'll be keeping a very close watch on your progress along with your foreign

teacher. And another thing, see the guidance counsellor. She'll sort out

your career.

You've got to get some direction in your life.

Wake up!

If you don't believe me, you're out.

This is among the top ten schools in the country.

Cheating in the exam properly isn't easy.

You'll soon learn that you're going to need help.

A private detective is a great partner in crime, but they don't come cheap.

You may have to settle for someone who thinks they're a private detective.

Each one of these steps looks worse than the next one.

No.

I don't think so.

Some of them are total no-nos, but others look a lot easier.

Step one, the plane from Norway, is obviously not on.

And neither would I suggest is step two, the truck from Dublin Airport to

Atlanta.

Hijacking a truck is big business, and the time frame is very short and hard to

predict exactly.

Step four, the regional centres, that's a tough one as well.

We're right up against the exams now, and security at these centres will be

very tight.

Around the clock stuff.

Step five isn't much easier.

Every school is terrified of the bad publicity that'll come from having a

leak in their patch.

That just leaves us with number three.

Yeah, compared to some of the other options, number three is a breeze.

A breeze?

Well, maybe more than a puff of air on a summer's day.

You want to take the leave-insert papers from the Department of Education's

warehouse.

Yes. Sure, it's got a lock in the door. What do you expect?

Sure, it's got a burglar alarm.

Sure, it's got a couple of dopey security night watchmen yawning their

way through the night, scratching their balls.

I mean, I don't see anything there that's beyond your ingenuity, Cara.

We'll need someone to deal with the locks and the alarm.

Why are we going to get people to do that?

Are you in?

Well...

I get full rights.

We weren't really thinking about telling anyone about this.

I thought you were doing this to make a point.

Yeah, we are. What kind of point do you feel you're going to make by keeping it

to yourself?

Hold on. Unless, of course, you're not doing it for the reasons you told me.

I've got my career to think of.

So it is just selfish, then.

Of course not.

Look, if you really want to fuck the system, you can't keep this quiet.

You've got to get top marks in the country, Fionn, and then come out.

Get top marks, get all the applause, be given the medal the top scorer gets, and

then turn around and say you cheated.

to find an electronics expert to neutralize the warehouse alarm try

visiting the adolescent scientists exhibition it's all very well saying

that but no locks person is going to be interested we've nothing to offer them

yeah i know i know we'll find a way around this we will i know plenty of

people who'd be perfect for this yeah well we want something we can trust

these people know about trust believe me fionn come on or if you were to positive

attitudes you don't know what will happen

Be careful who you talk to and what you say.

When you do find the right person, wait till you're alone with them before you

say a word.

Our friend died.

He committed suicide.

He killed himself because of the leaving certificate.

They caught him cheating.

They banned him for three years.

That's just the way they do it.

After the exam, he walked home, locked himself inside his room.

His parents found him.

You bastards!

We have to do something.

There's nothing we can do.

We can't accept it We already have accepted it

Look at me undoing the leaving for fuck's sake

Finding

a person to deal with the locks will probably be the most difficult of all

Each group member should have a list of places that they're supposed to check

out.

Try every lock shop in the county.

Again, be very careful what you say.

This can take weeks.

You'll probably find that younger, apprentice locksmiths are more into it.

Lock picking's a myth.

Save cracking's a myth.

That's just the movies.

Sorry, who are you?

I'm a journalist.

You can't pick locks.

Nope.

No locks?

Well... You can pick this.

Might as well pick your nose.

What about locksmiths?

Locksmiths use drills.

And safe crackers don't exist.

Safe engineers.

But that takes time too.

See, again, you've just got to break it open.

A lock is a lock.

If something's locked, it's locked.

You can't get around a lock.

If you could, just think about it.

It'd be anarchy.

Nothing would be safe.

Probably make a pretty boring newspaper article.

No, actually, it'll make an interesting story.

But who said I was writing one?

The ideal candidate is bored with their job and looking for a bit of excitement.

Remember, everyone who gets involved must be sworn to secrecy.

You'll also need an ex-leaving certificate student, someone who scored

very high on their own leaving.

But don't worry about that now.

Oh, hi!

Come in, come in.

Just talking to Stuart there. It's terrible, really.

His mother's an alcoholic and he thinks he might be homosexual.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

You wouldn't forget it, would you? Forget what?

Exactly.

You don't mind if I smoke, do you?

No, go ahead.

It's just that I need it, you know. I get so involved with my students.

Now, Robert.

Fionn. It's these uniforms.

How can I help?

Well, Mr. Forenston said that I should come and see you.

Um... Remember that the person cheating must continue to attend

school and assure the staff that he or she is making every attempt to get into

university. Ah, yeah.

Yeah.

Being confused is a terrible thing.

I'm not saying you should stay.

But I'm not saying you should leave either.

Yeah, well, sometimes things happen to remind you not to take stupid risks,

even for money.

Life's too important, you know?

What I'm saying, Charlie, is the stuntman thing was just a phase.

I'm ready to work.

I want to go to university.

It's extremely difficult.

You seem to be the only one who understands that.

It's my job.

You understand what I've been through.

Everything that's happened with Cianan.

If I don't stay in James Joyce... Botany.

Botany, botany, botany, botany.

I'm not really the one looking for help.

Well, is it one of your friends?

It's kind of a group of friends.

You see, like, they're taking on the system.

Taking on the system?

I really don't know what you're talking about, Hallie.

OK.

OK.

They're cheating.

They're trying to work out how to cheat.

How to cheat in the leaving certificate.

Jesus Christ, Ellie.

How did you get mixed up with these people?

Come on, Una.

You said you wanted to have some fun this time, that your life was boring.

Look, you're always writing to me saying you've no real friends.

Well, this is the perfect way to make them.

We're driving out to Athlone this weekend.

Are you gone in the head or something?

You're going to get caught.

Look, just come along for the ride.

The people doing this are cool.

We're all going to bond.

I mean, who gives a damn about who's bonking who at the office party? Or

their own personal ideas of personal hygiene and fucking relationships.

I mean, they've got their heads up their asses. Like, they're so pretentious.

I mean, they really think that they're the moral guardians and bastions of good

taste of this country, like, you know, but I mean, if you saw these fuckers, I

mean, they just sit around the windows of Café Cool with their fucking mobile

phones and their Filofaxes, like, and they really think that they can change

the world from there, like, you need a slap in the face with a wet fish.

I can't read the political analysis in this paper anymore. It's just a

regurgitation of the same old...

Party line with whatever party the paper is affiliated with.

Don't give a shit anymore.

Hey, how's it going?

It's a new goer.

Never seen a goer like that before.

Once you have assembled your team, have a preliminary meeting so that everyone

is introduced and each person is clear what their role in the operation is

going to be.

Ellie, this is Guy.

Guy, Ellie.

Pleased to meet you.

How you doing?

Oh, everybody, this is Una.

Una, this is Fionn, Murphy, and Gary.

I'll just wait for her.

That's really, really pathetic.

I can't believe I nearly got a foot in the door writing for this paper. Do you

know what?

I just didn't have a relative on the board.

The first thing we've got to do, I think, is check out the place, so...

Ellie?

Could I have a quick word with you, please?

So, do you like the newspaper, Zuna?

Do you read the newspapers?

Mm-hmm.

Oh, good.

She's my cousin.

What the fuck is she doing here when we have to talk about things today?

She knows.

What?

Shh.

She told her. Shh.

She's my cousin.

She got six A1s and are leaving.

You need... I need someone to pray the answers for you. She's perfect.

Anyway, she's staying with me at the moment. I've got to look after her.

Jesus Christ, Isle. You should have asked us first.

I know.

Yeah? That girl just left.

Shit!

You have to talk her into it.

You've got no choice.

I didn't do my Leaving Cert.

I left school when I was 16 and I travelled and I learned a lot more than

I ever could have said in school.

Plenty of great people never did their Leaving.

Plenty of writers never did their Leaving.

You can't be a writer without learning how to read and write without going to

school, you know? It is a bit contradictory.

No. Look.

You spend two years studying something, right? Say, history.

And it comes down to a three-hour exam.

Now, just think about that, you know?

Two years, and it comes down to three hours.

The point is, it's all memorization.

You cram it in. You don't learn.

i think you're a little confused i mean maybe they should have continuous

assessment or assess you over the two years or something but well that's a

flaw in the system i can see that don't forget people have different levels of

intelligence some people are more intelligent others find it more

difficult the exam shouldn't be easy you know listen to me right people are

intelligent in different ways you know there are many different types of

intelligence it's been proven there are loads of different types the exam is

interested in one

Let's take him outside now.

No, man, let's not.

Will there be guard dogs?

Murphy, will there be guard dogs?

No, no, nothing like that.

Can they just wander in there like that?

Sure.

I told you, they're just a bunch of bureaucrats.

of different kinds of intelligence, Una.

Right, now, take photographs and detailed notes on the building's design

and its security system.

Don't hang about.

Security guards may be obese, but they are there.

Get what you need and get out.

Anyway, have you got your notebook?

Yeah, I do.

I've taken this thing to three different people and it can't be picked.

End of story.

Great. There's way more shit than that.

The alarm is computer controlled.

From Dublin.

I don't have a clue about computers.

We need the key.

Yeah, who'd have copies of it?

The chief examiners.

Other people would have copies as well, but we've no way of finding out who.

Find the addresses of the chief examiners.

I don't see how that's going to work.

We go to their houses, right?

Wait till I leave, get in the house, find the key, copy it there and then.

Then leave.

Yeah.

Nope. See, I need the machine to cut the copy.

I can't do it otherwise.

Like, it's a problem. I was here to deal with the electronics of the alarm. And

now there are none. It's computers. I don't know anything about that.

We know a computer hacker.

Niall.

Niall.

We always said you hated the system.

Organise. Your time.

Remember, take a 10-minute break every 40 minutes. 10-minute break every 40

minutes.

Go for a walk, get some fresh air, recite poetry.

Study in a quiet place with no distractions.

Do not study with the TV or the radio on.

The TV or the radio can help you concentrate, all right, but don't sing

along with your favorite tunes.

No getting up and doing a boogie on the bed.

Well, that's really why I'm ringing.

I'm not really sure. I might stay up here a little bit longer than we both

thought. What?

You're not coming home?

Don't be ridiculous, Una. You must come home. You must get your application in

for university.

I'll decide the course you're going to take.

What about medicine?

I was just talking to Dr O'Brien about it the other day. I think you have good

enough points for medicine.

Mum, the thing is...

i'm not sure whether i really want to go to university at all now oh yeah i well

i've you know i'm here with ellie and everything and i've been meeting some

new people and they're very nice and we've been having a great time and even

sort of went off to athlone together and well yeah well i'm doing something

that's it's quite an exciting time for me and um what are you going to do well

i i really i don't know i'm i may take quite a lot of time off and think about

Take a year out?

Don't even think of it.

I don't know who you're mixing with up there and what ideas they put in your

head. They're not. They're very nice.

They're just different. Oh, they may be your friends, but when you have no job

and no qualifications, where will your friends be?

Well, these people, they don't care about qualifications and things like

that. They care about something more important than that.

Don't drink too much coffee or anything like that.

And study whatever way you feel most comfortable.

At night, in the morning...

Outside, inside, whatever.

Yeah, well, we have a big problem.

I just got a letter from school.

They kicked me out.

They can't do that.

Bastards. Take a look.

I know I should have put more effort into convincing them I was working.

You should have sent a cone car.

Don't worry if this happens.

Just ring up the headmaster or headmistress and pretend to be the

pupil's lawyer.

Ah.

Pop me through to Mr.

Fonson, will you?

Threaten a fascist with what's known as an ex parte injunction.

We won't go into what an ex parte injunction is right this minute.

Let's just say it's pretty frightening.

Dense everything into notes that are easy to read. Work out a timetable for

yourselves, a study plan.

I'll show you my own sample plan in a minute.

Start with your worst subjects, lads. Leave the best until last.

And try to put yourselves in the exam situation.

Answer the questions within the time.

Remember, the clock will be ticking.

Now, don't fall into the usual trap of forgetting about the oral exams, which

take place months before the written ones.

This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say.

Christ! This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say.

This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say.

This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the

kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the kind of speech that

students usually say. This isn't the kind of speech that students usually

say. This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the

kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the kind of speech that

students usually say. This isn't the kind of speech that students usually

say. This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the

kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the kind of speech that

students usually say. This isn't the kind of speech that students usually

say. This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say.

This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say.

This isn't the kind of speech that students usually say. This isn't the

kind of I don't know how to explain it to you.

I don't know what to do about it.

Why should I explain it to you? Don't you think it's too much?

It's too much. Well, it's not that you don't want to hear the truth.

I just wanted to tell you something. What is it?

For the rest of your life, you've been doing this because I wanted to.

What does that mean?

Well, it's...

Look, the most important thing is that we're not going to be together forever.

I'm afraid I'm going to be more arrogant than I was a couple of years ago.

I'm sorry.

And I'm sorry too.

What's the matter with her?

Is she all right?

Oh, no, I can't tell you that.

She's in the hospital.

I haven't got a pen.

Get your private eye or journalist or whoever to find a list of the chief

examiners. Pick one who lives in a secluded area and camp outside his or

her house until they leave.

They'll be robbing grannies next.

Mr.

Levin, certificate.

Are you going to give me sister the geography questions?

Murphy, that's him.

He's coming back.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Better get him out of there. Where the fuck are you?

Where the fuck is he?

Shit.

Those damn lights again.

Start the car. We have to get up there and get him out. Come on, man.

Did you get the key?

Yeah.

Spend time doing other things, too. Don't wear yourselves out before the

exams even start.

Stay calm.

Keep it in perspective.

At the same time, remember, you need this.

You can't do without it.

Certainly, don't bother coming back to us next year if you have to repeat.

make a habit of meeting outside their grounds during lunch break.

Is this computer genius going to join our team?

No.

He's scared.

Set to go. There you go. You're on your own, I'm afraid.

He got information about the alarm on the net.

We do have the key. Gary?

Here it is.

Yeah.

It's brilliant.

It was a close one, though.

Just think what it was like for me. I thought I was doomed. That was it.

What do you think?

I don't know.

I need more time.

I know when you go home tonight you'll be tired. That's why I've given you half

an hour on the plan.

Then it's four hours, lads.

The job will require about £2,000 in capital for electronic equipment, rental

of a reliable van plus petrol, black clothes for the night of the job, hire

of walkie-talkies and so on.

Get this money any way you can.

Tell him you needed to pay for one of those cram colleges.

Fine.

But it'll just say something like... Business is like polo. Or business is

like snooker.

Business is like golf. It's no good waiting till the last minute and putting

your effort in. You've really got to concentrate from the very beginning.

Pin.

Dad? Okay then, okay.

See ya.

Did he say give it to ya?

Hello?

Sally got a shop on this? Hey!

Cause when I wake up, the first thing I see is you. I was this fly,

and when my buzz is in tune, my twitchy feelers start discarding my

screw.

And could that natch be like someone not you? I couldn't be something that

wasn't natural to me.

And what you got, whether natural is true.

Get right back on baby to kick it back What

a

dream when love is true deep in its ocean Where

I sit in pants blue should we find?

someplace better than the sea We better move on, but I really don't think so

confidentially.

That little voice, like a drum in your head.

It's a state of mind so near me, I can't reach from my bed.

How do you feel, what you naturally do?

I get G without the G buzz, to kick it back some.

But I'm feeling good like, yes I said I'm feeling good like.

It's easy to get frustrated.

Don't. Just remember, preparation is everything.

Sit down and go over every single part of the plan in detail.

The basics are, someone goes in, someone watches the road from the van, someone

deals with the alarm, someone watches the guard, and someone watches the back

of the person going in.

Hold on, we should have somebody watching the warehouse as well, just in

case, to be safe.

And that comes to six, which is fine.

Do we all equate with that?

Yeah.

Ellie?

The alarm is a computer.

Like any computer, it has memory.

That is some form of RAM or... The point is, whatever the memory storage is,

it's very sensitive.

to electromagnetic flux.

A bit like your brain to drink, I suppose.

When you drink, you lose lots of brain cells and tend to forget things.

OK, what time do we do it?

Hang on. I just told her something, right?

Shall we check the local newspapers?

Make sure there's nothing big happening. Nothing ever happens in Athlone.

3.30am is the best time to do it.

But what about cock-a-doodle-doo and all that crap?

Actually, that's a good point. No, it's not, Murphy. People don't get up at

Cockrow in the country anymore.

It'll be fine until 7am.

It's okay, I'll go in.

You have to stay in the van.

You're the only one who can drive.

No, I don't mind going in.

I'd like to go in.

Jesus, what am I doing here?

Well, I can tell you what you're doing here. No!

What?

As soon as the papers reach Dublin, you have two weeks to strike.

The papers will just be sitting in large cardboard boxes in the warehouse for

that period.

After this, they're counted into metal boxes for schools and missing papers

would definitely be noticed.

You're going to have to rent a flat on Athlone for the night of the operation.

You might only use it for a few hours, but you'll need it. I'll take it. Use a

fake name, obviously.

Parents should be told intelligent lies, such as, I'm going to Limerick with my

friends for another exhibition.

Come on, Fiona, for Christ's sake!

The end.

Oh, the end.

Afraid to think, afraid to fall.

Screaming voices, I can hear the future call.

Up to speed, it's down to me.

The stars, they told me. The stars are all...

They're ready.

He's about death, really. He's not about life, you know.

Oh, my God.

where was it

Jesus Christ

oh my god

One of the guards is coming out.

Oh, Christ. Oh, shit!

Christ!

Bjorn, get out, now!

What?

John, you've got to get out of there. Some security man or something. It's

like an object or something or he's... Kara.

What's going on?

Kara. Come on. No.

Everything's okay.

Where's Fionn?

People are often tempted to write I was here on the wall or to leave some kind

of mark Really you should just get the fuck out of there

You

lie I sigh

Three in the bed and a little one said roll over.

You're so cheap.

And you're cheap.

Okay, we're rocking.

Yeah, you're so winky.

And you're cheap.

Cheap. We are out of here.

Do not talk to anyone or tell anyone the truth about where you've been.

There you go.

Thanks a lot. Where'd you come from today?

We've just been down to Athlone.

Athlone? The architecture of people. Have you ever been there? I know it. Oh,

I know it. Yeah, it's great nightlife.

Good-looking women. Are these girls from Athlone?

Come on, they're much better looking than that.

It's the center of Ireland, you know that?

That's true.

And maybe it's the center of the universe.

Take care, eh?

In the following weeks leading up to the exam, the academic genius should spend

time working with you, going over every single paper. I don't understand any of

this. You don't have to. Just concentrate on your handwriting. It has

to be faster.

With less than a week remaining before the leaving certificate is due to begin,

the Department of Education is in a difficult situation.

Following rumors that the English papers were circulating in Galway, the

headmaster of Lanolai Secondary School discovered three copies of the paper,

the original nowhere in sight.

Jim Sullivan reports.

How the leak occurred and how many Leaving Cert students have the English

paper, no one quite knows. But what is known for certain is the English paper

will now be changed.

I highly resent our school being singled out in this way. The papers are all over

Galway, everyone knows that.

Our pupils have absolutely no reason to cheat.

Hello? You see that?

Yes.

Murphy's Law.

You know who it was, don't you?

You could have at least made sure that it can get spread all over Galway.

Are you sure he only has one girlfriend there? Look, it wasn't her fault. Listen

to me. Jesus, if you could see how sorry she is. This is your fault.

Listen to me. I wasn't at the beginning, but then I was. We don't have time for

this. Any chance you'll get a nay in English anyway, Fionn?

No.

Shit.

I have an idea.

I seriously misjudged you, pal.

I really thought you had more cop-on than this.

You really fucking... He's gone it.

After everything we've been through, how could you fucking do it?

If anything goes wrong, especially if there's conflict within the group, it's

very important to remain calm.

As a group, you can overcome any obstacle, but if someone pulls out, it

can be very difficult to hold things together.

If someone does say they're going to split, use all your powers of persuasion

to change their mind.

Una, leave me alone.

Una, we can get over this. You know we can. I've had enough of it, Cara.

You know, we can't come this close and then just forget about it. That's not

the point.

Look at what we've done.

They've had to change the papers now.

Loads of people won't do as well as they would have.

So others will do a little better instead.

But we've made the difference.

We're fucked with the lives of 60,000 people.

I just don't know what you're fucking talking about.

If you're fighting for a cause, you've got to be able to back it up.

Okay, maybe we should cherish all forms of intelligence equally, Cara.

But that's not really the point.

The education system teaches things which are important.

I mean, intelligence or whatever you want to call it is important.

Yeah, okay, but you can't do anything with it alone.

You need knowledge to go with it.

That's what the education system gives people, Cara.

Knowledge. You can't think without having the facts.

The education system teaches you the facts and that is why it is so

important.

See, you forgot all about knowledge.

Knowledge.

For the sake of argument, just for the sake of argument, there are two types

of knowledge.

Established knowledge and constructed knowledge. Established what?

Established knowledge.

Established knowledge and constructed knowledge.

Established knowledge is everything that's written down, things that are

taken for granted, you know, status quo, things that the government wants you to

know, things that existed before you were even born, right?

Right. Right.

That's established knowledge.

Constructed knowledge.

Constructed knowledge, Una, is the way we all individually make sense of the

world in our own heads.

The way we add things up, the way we make connections, the way we develop our

minds, the way we think, the way we learn.

And if you look at the curriculum of school, it's not about constructing

knowledge. It's about the consumption and regurgitation of established

knowledge.

Una, that's why we don't leave school and go out and change the world, but

just accept the way it is already.

That's what we've been taught to do.

And that's the answer to the world's problems.

Una, freedom won't come through love.

And it won't come through force.

It'll come through the imagination.

Two years now and that in itself

Something of an achievement for the likes of

myself Said to be fickle

Occasionally wired Lurching from

port to port and easily tired

Maybe I'm right.

Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm led by a different light than the one you depend on.

But somehow tonight and somehow tomorrow

we gotta shine on however we fight till we're

long gone.

Two years now and that in itself

Something unheard of for the likes of

herself Stung by dependence

lost on her own

Your answer booklets are on the desk in front of you.

Now remember, you may not leave the exam hall within the first hour.

You must not communicate in any way, in any way, with any other candidate.

I now hand out the exam papers.

The exam papers will be placed face down on your desk.

Do not turn them over until you are told to do so.

There will be no talking from this point on.

The exam will start in 30 seconds.

You may turn over your exam papers now.

Nature's disregard for man.

E.

Silence.

C.

Changes.

D.

Electronic entertainment.

E.

Ireland's sense of her past imperils her sense of the future.

Shucks.

You're bound to get one cheat, you know.

And this particular kid, I always knew it was something strange about him.

Really? Yeah.

He was a loner.

And it's a funny thing, the only one he ever got mixed up with was

a kid who committed suicide.

And I think maybe that had an effect on him.

It was quite a big scandal for the school, wasn't it? It was an absolute

disgrace, yeah.

I mean, you think the reputation this school has.

It just devastated everyone here, you know.

Particularly the headmaster.

A wonderful reputation.

So it's the school.

So you get one bad apple and the whole country is up in arms.

Because apparently parents took their children out of the school and

apparently the school isn't getting as many students in.

Yeah, well, it has had that effect, all right, yeah.

Yeah, when you think this school goes back over 100 years, my family have been

involved in it.

My father was caretaker here.

And, I mean, nothing like this has ever happened before.

And maybe the whole thing has been taken out of proportion, I don't know. Yeah.

a lot of people certainly we could have done without it a lot of people thought

it was a good thing though you know that it exposed the system for what it was

and that you know believing it will never be the same again how could it be

a good thing when just one person messes up a whole system well the fact that

they sort of became heroes and stuff but you don't become a hero by cheating well

they did when the story broke uh the country went crazy and

you all ended up becoming household names looking back on it three years

later why Why did you do it?

Why did I do it?

Well, it's like, you have to stand up for what you believe in.

It's not just a 60s ideal. You do. You have to stand up. You have to fight.

You have to fight back.

You know what I mean?

A lot of people would say that you felt you were stupid. You felt that you

hadn't done well in school. You had an inferiority complex. And so you needed

to sort of, it was revenge in that sense.

I wasn't aware of having an inferiority complex.

But, like, I mean, no, I never... I mean, play along, Karen. You know, just

play along, everything will be fine. But everything isn't going to be fine until

people stop playing along.

So in that sense, yeah, I mean, school never suited me.

You know what I mean? But, I mean, so what if that was my reason for doing it?

We did it. We did it.

To what extent do you think your participation in the cheating in 1997

was an attempt to jumpstart your career?

Well, very much so.

I mean, that's not to take away from the side of it that I instantly saw the

appeal of such a story. I mean, every system, no matter how beneficial it is

to its citizens, needs a kick up the ass at times in order to keep the

equilibrium of the whole situation. Otherwise, the whole situation

stagnates. Gary, why did you decide to cheat in the Leaving Cert?

Why did you decide to cheat in the Leaving Cert? Why did you decide to take

part in this thing?

Really, I'd had enough of school and other companies at a young age trying to

use my ideas and everything after the exhibition.

And this idea was just... They just approached me one day and it just seemed

they had an interest in doing it for real reasons and that's just on a

commercial level and it really appealed to me.

I don't know, it's funny really.

Before I did it, my life was very structured and I had a definite plan of

what I wanted to do.

you know, it was all set ahead and stuff and I I was um,

I Had it all planned and then suddenly and You

know it all changed and you know your remote control is What do you know where

remote control is?

Yeah, so um, yes, and then it all

changed, and I realized that this was going to change my life altogether,

which it did, and it made me see it.

How has it changed you?

Well, it's quite funny, really. I mean, a lot of people who've heard about it,

that I did this, you know, are always quite surprised, you know, because when

they first meet me, they wouldn't ever assume that I'd be that type of person.

So on the surface, I'm not changed at all.

And yet, something in me has altered, definitely.

Sometimes I have a dream that I'm back in the warehouse and Cian's in

there with me.

I'm reading through the papers and I don't see him, but I just know he's

standing beside me.

Take a parachute and jump.

You can't stay here forever when everyone else is gone.

Being all alone won't seem that clever.

Take a parachute and go.

There's gonna have to be some danger.

Take a parachute and jump.

You're gonna have to take flight.

If the wind don't catch you, I will.

I will.

If the wind's not there, I'm here.

Don't look out before you. You know it's a long way down.

I'll make it safer for you.

Your parachute won't let you down.

Take your parachute and go.

Maybe come back tomorrow.

Take your parachute, I am.

To stop you ever getting sorrow.

If the winds don't catch you, I will, I will If the wind's not

there, I'm here

Here's

the

wind

Blow over you and the wind might cut

you in two.

Unless perhaps you get a raincoat.

Take your parachute and go.

Wave to me as you are falling.

Take your parachute and jump.

You'll hear a sound, it's just me calling.

It's a beautiful day for jumping.

And nothing's here to keep you back.

I'll make it safer for you.

Your parachute is on your back.

And if the winds don't catch you, I will, I will.

If the wind's not there, I'm here.

Because the wind might change.

And the wind might change.

Take a parachute a parachute a parachute.

I am Take a parachute a parachute a parachute.

I am take a