With second round CAO offers set to be released on September 8th, 2025 at 2pm, thousands of students across Ireland are bracing themselves for an anxious wait. Eugene Greaney, co-founder of The Dough Bros, recalls the disappointment of his own Leaving Cert results, yet today he is one of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs. What began in 2013 as an idea over a few pints grew from a food truck to a pop up, then to a restaurant, and now The Dough Bros is crowned the best pizza in Ireland and number 15 in the world.
This year a record 89,347 applicants applied, up from 83,543 in 2024, an increase of more than 6,000. Despite the hard work and long study hours, not everyone secured their desired course. Half of students did not receive their first choice place, and for some of the most sought after programmes, entry was not even down to points alone. Instead, 25 level eight courses nationwide were decided by random selection.
For those who will not get what they wanted, the disappointment is real, but Eugene’s journey proves it is not the end of the story.
He remembers clearly, “I will never forget receiving the Leaving Cert results, and the first thing I saw was an E. I thought, it’s over, I have failed. I remember that sinking feeling of not going to college with my mates.”
But instead of giving up, Eugene reset his focus, “If I was going to repeat the Leaving Cert I was going to absolutely work from day 1. I decided to do business studies at the University of Limerick.”
Even then, Eugene admits he wasn’t the type of student who stood out in a classroom.
“I was a middle of the road student, never a high achiever, my intelligence was never in books or offices. I only realised when I was 27 what I was good at and what I wanted to do.”
That realisation led him into hospitality, a risk that paid off in ways he could never have imagined. “To take a risk and start doing something in hospitality, then to be seen on the Leaving Cert business paper as a business that people can hopefully look up to was just a real pinch me moment.”
His message to students today is clear and uplifting, “You only have to be good at one thing. Not everyone is going to be brilliant at everything.”
The reality is, not everyone’s path will go through third-level education and that’s okay. Speaking to those who don’t secure their place this year, the advice is simple: “It is not the end of the world. It is going to feel like the end of the world. Setbacks are going to happen in life, they happen in business, but it is how you respond to them that will define your future.”
It’s worth remembering that some of the world’s most successful people never completed college. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are household names who famously dropped out. Closer to home, TD and businessman Michael Healy-Rae built a successful career without going to college.
After all, life isn’t graded on points, and as Eugene’s journey shows, sometimes the best lessons come outside the classroom
