I was born in 1940 in a very poor and lost country on the edge of Europe where the church ruled, poverty was everywhere. Poverty in material possessions but not poverty in mind. Many well known writers and famous peoples came from this 'Islands of Saints and Scholars'. Yes! I am an Irishman ,born a Protestant in a dominant Roman Catholic country 'Ireland' ' Eire' 'The Republic of Ireland'. A country at the time still very much under the influence of its previous rulers. I was fortunate to have parents who fought to provide myself and two brothers with a first class education. I was unable to find employment on leaving school in 1957 and joined the British Merchant Navy as an Apprentice Deck Officer. My first book launched 2009 'Pinkeens to Diddies'  tells of the exploits of a lad growing up in the Ireland described