When I was at school and college I used to prefer exam time to term time. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it was the discipline of focusing so much into 2 or 3 hours. Or the sense of completing something and moving to the next stage.

It’s exam season in Dublin’s universities at the moment. My son has just finished his first year of a Physics degree. While he doesn’t say much, he looks to me like a man under pressure these last couple of weeks of study leave. He’s sitting his first paper this afternoon. My fingers are crossed.