Damian mcGinty

Actor and singer

What’s your earliest memory of school?

My mammy took me into nursery school when I was about four years old. Most of the other kids were already in the classroom and I stood at the door feeling absolutely terrified. I was that child who was shy and scared and didn’t want to go into school.

Can you remember your school lunches?

I had a Toy Story lunchbox. I was a big Toy Story and lunchbox fan. I always had sandwiches and Monday was my favourite day because there would always be rotisserie chicken left over from the Sunday dinner. Having that was like having a royal lunch sandwich. I always had a biscuit and a packet of crisps as well.

As a singer, did you perform much at school?

We had a leavers’ Mass before I moved from primary school into secondary school and I sang Westlife’s Queen Of My Heart. The lyrics were changed to “Here In My Heart” though. I took any chance to sing that I could, I loved it.

How were you with exams?

I would have gotten quite tense because I’ve always been annoyingly competitive. Whenever there were quizzes or exams, it was always me and another fella called Matthew who were top of the class. We were good friends, but we were also arch enemies. Being honest, he was definitely smarter than I was. I never let that be apparent. I have always struggled with the different education systems north and south, that has always confused me. I live in America and it’s different again with elementary school, junior high and high school. Why is there not just one system?

Did you ever get in trouble for anything?

I never got detention until my second year of secondary school. A friend and I were tragically cooking something in Home Economics. We were always messers and we were throwing this blade from a broken sharpener at each other. The next thing the blade flew out of my hand and into the blender. It was a complete accident, but nobody ever believed us. We both got detention for it. It was my first and last detention.

Was the TV ever rolled into the classroom so you could watch movies?

I remember well the TV being rolled into our classroom so we could watch Ireland playing in the World Cup in 2002. It is a core memory for me. The school we were in at the time was being rebuilt and we were in these prefabs and they were always freezing.

What were your favourite and least favourite subjects?

I was really good at Maths and I still love numbers. If I wasn’t in the entertainment industry I would be working with numbers as a career. My least favourite subject was Chemistry. I was absolutely awful at it and I hated it. It was chemicals thinly veiled as numbers.