For
years, the Rossi family have brought the great taste of Italian
ice-cream to generations of Belfast people. MacLaverty and
his friends hung out on the Antrim Road, drinking coffee,
shooting the breeze and watching the comings and goings of
Belfast life.
MacLaverty attended St Malachy's College, the favoured
place for the education of bright, young Catholic boys who
passed the 11-Plus. However, in his most recent book, The
Anatomy School, MacLaverty is scathing about his time at St
Malachy's. He criticises the quality of the teaching,
the oppressive atmosphere and the staff's attitudes
towards the pupils.
But in the late Fifties, MacLaverty and his friends had other
distractions from school and study. Skiffle music was the
big beat that the kids were going for, and they would head
down to the record shops in Smithfield market to get their
hands on the latest releases.
MacLaverty's
love of Ireland still persists - though when asked what his
idea of earthly paradise would be, his answer encompassed
both Ireland and Scotland:
'Layde
Graveyard in the Glens of Antrim on a hot summer's day looking
out over the sea towards Scotland. It's the place where
my friends and I spent long, lazy teenage days, chewing
stems of grass.'
Introduction
