A CO Down pensioner who began her working life with The Irish News has returned for a trip down memory lane after more than 60 years.
Peggy Pyers, from Annaclone near Banbridge, was 18 when she started in the Donegall Street offices in Belfast in May 1958.
The 82 year-old grandmother and mother-of-four worked in the accounts department for 18 months before moving to pastures new.
With the paper a constant presence in the Pyers household, Mrs Pyers has kept abreast of breaking news and sport through the publication over the years.
In recent times, she told her family she would like to return to the offices to see the place where she started her working life, after leaving Banbridge Technical College.
Last month, Mrs Pyers was welcomed by editor Noel Doran and sports editor Paul McConville.
Mrs Pyers and her family, including her daughter, Paula Magee, who is the PRO for Down GAA, were given a tour of the building before being treated to refreshments.
The pensioner was then presented with a framed front page of The Irish News from the day she started work at the newspaper.
It included a reference to an initiative where GAA teams would play at Wembley.
Her brother Willie Doyle was a star defender of the 1968 All-Ireland winning Down GAA side who went on to play in a GAA tournament at Wembley the following year.
Speaking to The Irish News, Mrs Magee said her mother was "delighted" at being able to see her old workplace again.
"Being a GAA family, it would be in the house all the time," she said.
"It was just something she always would have said, `I would love to go back'.
"We were in last month. We had a wee tour and we met Noel and Paul.
"We had tea and coffee in the boardroom and then they made a beautiful presentation of the front page of The Irish News from 16th May, 1958.
"It was all world news but a wee bit about GAA teams playing in Wembley. Mum's brother was on the 1968 Down team."
Mrs Magee said her mother was "so taken back" by the presentation.
"She was absolutely delighted, really pleased," she said.
"The hospitality we were shown was fantastic. It was a lovely, lovely afternoon."
Editor Noel Doran said: "It was a privilege to welcome Peggy back after a gap of more than six decades.
"Her memories of her time in our office were incredibly vivid, and she had retained not only photographs from the past but also her diaries listing the contact details for her colleagues," he said.
"It was fascinating to learn how much working practices and even the basis geography of the building have changed since her era, as we prepare to leave Donegall Street after almost 120 years and move to a new home in the Fountain Centre."
