I grew up in the lower town and I'm still living there, although in a different house. Rathdrum was a very quiet village and our life was simple. I went to the local primary school. There was no secondary school, so a group of us cycled the 10 miles to Wicklow together - some to the Brothers, some to the Technical school. We spent the summers playing hurling and football. Avondale was - and still is - a very active GAA club.

Farmers would come in for shopping and everything stayed open till nine on Saturday nights. There was a fair day on the first Tuesday of every month on The Fairgreen with cattle, sheep and pigs and farm produce. The stalls ran right down to the Market Square.

There was a dance hall in the Main Street. There were dances there on Sunday night and most of the young guys would go - I met my wife, Joan, there. The old Flannel Hall, where the Development Association is now, was a cinema owned by Michael Haughton. He lived in the house beside the hall. Later, he sold it and it became a factory specialising in tweed clothing.

In my days, employment was hard to get and a lot of my age group had to emigrate. Our family was broken up through emigration. There has been more employment in the past 10 years, with the arrival of Schering-Plough and we've had a huge number of housing developments. Our children are still here.

Rathdrum people give a great welcome to strangers, including the refugees.