Their first schooldays – thirty years apart

Their first schooldays – thirty years apart

14 October 2015

THEY say history has a habit of repeating itself — and no more so than for Tony Reid and his daughter Aoife.

The Downpatrick dad was keen to get the Down Recorder last week to see his five year-old daughter’s first school days picture.

But he was surprised to find himself also smiling out of the pages after his own first school photograph was featured in the Country Diary — 30 years after the beginning of his formal education.

Tony, who is currently working as head of security on the Game of Thrones series, said he was startled to see the photograph of his five year-old self in the same newspaper edition as Aoife.

In 1985 he was a new-start at St Nicholas’ Primary School in Ardglass and he said little Aoife was now happily settling into P1 at Our Lady and St Patrick in Downpatrick.

“It was a big coincidence to see my photograph on the same day as hers,” he said.

“It was my mum who noticed it first as she was specifically looking out for Aoife. It’s amazing to see the family resemblance. It is like turning back the clock.”