‘When I got my first pay, I thought I was a millionaire’
Paula McIntyre MBE (52) is a chef and broadcaster, who lives in Portstewart. She says:
Igot a job in the kitchen of MacDuff ’s restaurant in Aghadowey when I was 14 years old. The people that owned it, Joey and Margaret Erwin, were friends of my parents and I always plagued them for a job.
Margaret always said I couldn’t work there until I was 14, so I started working there the weekend of my 14th birthday.
Most of my friends had jobs and my parents encouraged me to get part-time work. It was instilled in me that if I wanted anything extra, I had to go out and work for it or help in the house and earn it. My parents taught me a good work ethic, something
I think some young people lack today.
I’ve always loved restaurants. They are such a treat — I would have preferred to go out to a restaurant than go to Barry’s in Portrush. I think my mum and dad thought if I got a job in a restaurant, it would put me off them, but it did the opposite. Working in MacDuff ’s confirmed my passion for cooking and I knew then that I wanted to make a career out of it.
It was a restaurant well before its time, as Joey and Margaret travelled a lot and brought back interesting foreign recipes. They had amazing curries, spices and even papadums, which were unheard of in Northern Ireland.
We did everything there, from starters to desserts, and I even had to do the dishes — that’s the only bad thing in my opinion.
I got £1 an hour, so I got £4 for a shift and then we got a share of the tips at the end of the week.
There was a small chest of drawers and every Friday there would be an envelope with your name on it with your share of the tips from the week before.
I was delighted when I got my first ever pay — I thought I was a millionaire.
I always saved up for things. I think I put my money towards a pair of Levis, because everyone wanted those back in the day.
I remember saving up to buy a three-quarter length leather jacket. I kept getting offers from people to buy it from me.”