Bernard Dunne Returns to Irish Exam After Failing Leaving Cert

Bernard Dunne has gone back to finish the one fight that always bothered him – his Leaving Cert Irish exam.

The former world champion, now 46, revealed on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that he sat the Irish paper last week, decades after first failing the subject in school.

“It was the only subject I failed in my Leaving Cert,” he said, admitting the experience brought back some of the same nerves he felt under the lights. “It was nearly as bad as doing the world title fight, to be honest.”

Dunne had been on the programme to talk about Katie Taylor’s proposed Croke Park bout, hailing her as a trailblazer and a standard-bearer for the next generation of Irish athletes. The conversation turned at the end to his own return to the classroom, and the congratulations that followed.

He explained that the decision was almost as impulsive as stepping in for a late-notice opponent.

“I needed to put that right and at the age of 46 I decided, a week before the exam, that I was going to do it,” he said.

The Dublin native framed it in the language he knows best – the ring.

“Thankfully, we were able to survive a couple of low blows and get through it.”

All those years after a world title belt, Dunne has finally ticked off the one result that never sat right on his record.