MY SCHOOLDAYS are a touchy subject. I didn't particularly enjoy them. I started out in the Megain Memorial Infants School which was on the same street as my home in East Belfast. As an eight year old, I moved to Avoniel Primary School which was also in the immediate locality and later - because I failed the 11 plus exam - I went to Orangefield Secondary School. Orangefield was a very good school but although they were ready for me, I wasn't ready for them.

I left school at 14 without any qualifications. Life at that time appeared to be going at a massive speed and I was busy playing football and exploring other aspects of my life.

My parents were disappointed. My brother, who is my senior by 18 months, had gone to grammar school. Eventually he gained two degrees and qualified as a teacher. He walked the path that I was expected to follow. However, my parents never made me feel that I had let them down or that I was a failure.

Living your life is all about coping with your own particular circumstances. I created my own circumstances by not following an educational path. I have only myself to blame.

Later in Long Kesh Prison, I did manage to receive some education. In prison you have time on your hands and the opportunity to reflect. I began to realise what I had missed and was eager to make up for it.

I can't say that all my fellow prisoners felt the same way. At one point the UVF under Gusty Spence made prison education compulsory. I know fellows with strings of Open University degrees who were initially very reticent about education.

Compulsory education was introduced in the hope that it would benefit and enlighten us, but also as an effort to increase class numbers so that we would be assigned teachers. During my time in prison I studied sociology, politics, economics, German, maths and English literature and language.

I found sociology a marvellous subject. It gives you an understanding of your own environment and circumstances. I began to see that there was so much that affected our lives that we didn't understand and just took for granted.

Looking back on some of the attitudes and beliefs I used to have I realise that I am a changed person. Education gives you the skills to be able to step back and evaluate matters in a rational way. My present path has been facilitated by both education and experience, which begs the question - am I happy that I went to jail to gain an education?

I've mixed feelings about that, but I'm certain that if I were to live my life all over again I would make sure that I gained a formal education.