Ms Tara O'Sullivan:

My name is Tara O'Sullivan. I am 15 years old, as I was in March last when I started this petition. I am from Glasnevin, Dublin and I attend Loreto College, St. Stephen's Green. I am accompanied today by Ms Ellen McKimm, Ms Faye Dolan and Ms Adrianne Ward. We are the main drivers of this petition but our English teacher, Ms Courtney, and the entire English class were on board with it from the beginning. This was not specifically intended to be a Loreto College petition but the core values that our school and headmistress, Ms Dempsey, promote are closely tied to social justice which is very relevant to a process such as this.

As it is a long time since members did their intermediate or junior certification examination, I would like to explain some context.