Ivan McCormick, who lived in Howth with his family, was one of those plucky souls who answered the call from Larry Mullen looking for people interested in forming a band on that historic September day in 1976. The family was a musical one. Ivan’s older brother Neil, who was also in Mount Temple, went on to form bands, as well as working in Hot Press. His sister Stella was also an excellent singer.

“I still have a very clear recollection of that first day we all got together and practiced in Larry’s house,” McCormick recalls. “I used to keep a diary and fill in every single event that happened back then. The entry for Saturday, September 25 simply reads: ‘Joined a pop group with friends and we rehearsed’. My dad had dropped me and my guitar down to Larry’s place, from Howth, where we lived.”

Ivan was younger not just than Paul Hewson and Adam Clayton, both of whom had been born in 1960, but also than David Evans and Larry Mullen – who entered the world, like Neil in 1961. “I remember being very excited to be hanging out with these older boys and forming a band,” Ivan reflects. “The only reason I think I was in the band was the fact that I had the best instrument. I was only thirteen at the time, so they were mostly a few years older, and ahead of me in school.”