Dreams of a high-flying career in London and dampened by the realities of big city living expenses... For Sunday Miscellany on RTÉ Radio 1, listen to A Teenage Emigrant, by Liz Nugent above.
In the days before Ryanair we emigrated to London on the boat, and the train. I had £60 pounds and my cousin's address in my handbag, but there was duty-free on the ferry from Dun Laoghaire and as I needed to equip myself for my new life as a Londoner, I spent £25 pounds on 200 Silk Cut Purple and a bottle of Malibu.
I was 18. I was more than ready for London.
There was a cool and beardy man who ran a record label and an airline with the name Virgin - and he didn't mean the Virgin Mary. I had decided that he was going to employ me...
Listen to more from Sunday Miscellany here.
