Perusing Social Media some weekends ago I came across 'Marie's Diary' in the Lifestyle and Culture section in the Malta Independent and a feature on Giorgio Peresso, a guy who I became friendly with a decade and more ago at the University of Malta up in Msida. Giorgio and I were back at University as 'very' Mature Students in our 50's embracing academia and everything that went with it. Giorgio let you into his life some weeks ago and wrote about how he's managing his time during the Coronavirus pandemic and after contacting Marie I decided to do the same.
My life has taken a different path to Giorgio's and it is just surprising how we ended up together at University later in life. I was born in Belfast in the early '50s just a few years after WW II. The city had been bombed several times during the war as was Malta so both places shared something in common. Also the troop carrier, HMS Maidstone was based in Malta during WW II and then retired to Belfast in 1971 where it became a Prison ship holding Internees who rejected the British presence during the unfolding conflict.
The '70's in Belfast was a time of civil disobedience, urban guerrilla war, British soldiers, political conflict; it was a time of unprecedented death and destruction, I lived through it before moving to Donegal in the '80s, married, three children, working for 20 years in a German car factory and then in '03 took voluntary redundancy and went back to college at the University in Galway and a BA in English & History, MA in History and then a PGDE in Teacher Training and at 58 graduated as a Secondary Teacher, like Giorgio the PhD was a step too far for us and the University. But it was some experience and in the middle of it all I ended up in the southern Mediterranean on the little island of Malta and a year at the Università 'ta Malta.
After a few days up in Msida I met Giorgio during either an English or History lecture, later we had a coffee together and maybe a pastizz or two as all students do. Our shared love of history soon became apparent and Giorgio told me how he had a love for Ireland except for one Irishman, Michael Smurfit, whose multinational business created havoc for Giorgio's Maltese enterprise, 'I like all Irishmen except him,' he confided. Later as we shared a Cisk I told Giorgio I had visited Smurfit's home the previous year for the Ryder Cup, yes, the luxurious K Club had Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and myself as guests. We spent that winter at lectures, tutorials and seminars, I remember Professor Fenech who Giorgio mentioned, also Wettinger, a lovely man who has since passed, one lecturer who told me the problem with the Irish is that everything starts with the Famine. I informed him with 2m dead or forced migration it's a natural conclusion and one lovely lady lecturer who arrived one day in mid-December with a big coat and scarf on and said, 'are you not cold Paddy', being Irish I still had the shorts on, the 15֯ was like the best Irish summer day!
I was domiciled in Swieqi that Università year and fell in love with the place, also with a little book shop whose proprietor was Simone, also a language teacher; I should clarify it was the book shop I fell in love with. In the summer I stayed on and worked in a language school and continued to do so for the following five years, I also moved across the valley and stayed in San Gwann for several years, it was a great time, there were quite a few Irish working on the island, also many others from the UK, blonde Swedes in Betfair, Africans on the building sites, Libyans in the Embassy before Ghaddafi got the chop, The Dubliner in St Julian's was our spiritual home with Paul & Carl and St Patrick's Day was home from home.
Between lectures we watched the Champions League and rugby, the GAA from Donegal and Dublin; one day in August '08 we watched Gaelic football in 40֯ and AC while at Croke Park the floodlights were on at 4pm as the skies emptied, surreal! There was also the unique island rivalry between supporting English and Italian club teams as well as the national teams, the cavalcades of cars around the island waving the Union Jack or Il Tricolore after victory in the World Cup was fascinating; the divide in political life between the Nationalists and Labour equally so with a disturbing history.
Unfortunately, I haven't been to Malta for some time due to several health issues in the last few years and with the virus, it's unlikely to change in the near future. I had been teaching and then working for the Exams Commission in recent years and since the Lockdown I embarked on writing a book which is ready for publishing but the 'launch' held up by the virus. It's a 135,000-word tome about life growing up in Belfast in conflict and eventually returning to University and becoming a Teacherman late in life and it's a story which has Malta and Gozo featuring on its pages.
Looking back on 65+ years was an experience; many of my childhood friends lost their lives during the conflict in Ireland, they never had a future, the writing was a way for them to be remembered.
In my retirement years I write a weekly article for a paper in Donegal, 2000 words about history, politics, golf, football. I also write for a football fanzine, Celtic in Glasgow are my team, they don't have many supporters in Malta like Man U or Juve but do have a fan club based in Munchies in Bugibba with Dave & Natalie superb mein hosts. I also have a Blog and a Podcast which I update regularly, 'Still Only Our Rivers Run Free', not too bad for an old guy who went back to college at 50.
To all my friends in St Julian's, especially Giorgio, 'slainte' in gaelic or 'grazzi' in Maltese, and to Marie, what an Irish name, thanks for inviting me to submit this piece, until I get out again to golf at Marsa, take care and stay safe!"