“We’ve done a couple with the Pistols that were terrific, and they really are a lovely bunch of guys, completely different to the way they’ve been portrayed in the media. They had the same as us, when we were back home in Derry we had to deal with a lot of frustrated people so not only was there that, there was also the situation with the army and the police. We had a lot to contend with.”

And contended so well you’re about to start your fiftieth anniversary tour.

“If you’d said back in 1976 we’d still be doing this now we’d be thinking it’s the Twilight Zone. And supporting the Pistols was unreal. First time I saw them was about three years ago and they were really brilliant, then we ended up playing with them.”

Most bands from that era have changed their line-up but you’ve been virtually the same for those fifty years. How have you managed that?

“Well… we’ve had ups and downs and setbacks but it’s probably because we’re all friends, we all have the same outlook and tastes in music. The band are all colours, for instance I’d be navy blue, John would be light blue, Micky could be another version of blue and so could Damien but Fergal would be brown, he wouldn’t be the same as the rest of us.

“Fergal was more ambitious and fair play, he worked at it and became very successful but we like to be anonymous, we like to stay out of the limelight and that’s no good in this business. There are certain expectations of things you should do and we didn’t want all that. But we’ve created a niche.”

Paul McLoone’s been with the band since 1999. Has he passed the Ronnie Wood stage of still being the new boy?

“He’s past that now. He and I were in a band together; Michael Bradley and I became friendly with a band called the Saw Doctors and we went down to play with them. I persuaded John and Damien to come down and do a couple of shows and it was terrific.

“Next day I saw REM with a friend of mine Joe O’Herlihy, who’s U2’s sound man. and he asked if I’d like to meet REM’s drummer Joey Waronker. I’m not really into meeting drummers but Joe took me over and Joey Waronker is on his hand and knees, worshipping me.I was so embarrassed but Dennis Desmond, from MCD who promotes U2, Springsteen, that level of act, he’s called me over and asked what I was doing.

“I told him the band were getting back together without Fergal and his words were ‘Get a young buck and I’ll set up dates in America’. I thought it was so outrageous I started laughing but my friend Joe persuaded me that it was all true. I told the rest of the band, I said Paul was worth giving a try and he’s been with us ever since.”

I’m sorry. I tried, I really tried. But you cannot possibly talk about the Undertones without mentioning Teenage Kicks.

“That’s down to John Peel, playing it back to back on the radio, Peter Powell made it Single of the Week and that was the start. John had a concern, he didn’t want to be the band’s champion and launch five young, naive Derry fellas into that big, bad world of rock’n’roll and you feel concerned about it but it gave me an idea of how influential he was.

“I like to think it has the effect on the people who comes to the shows. We’ve pensioners, we’ve got bus passes and we’re singing Teenage Kicks. It’s like the Who singing hope I die before I get old, it becomes irrelevant.”

You’ve just played the Rebellion festival in Blackpool. How did that work?

“It’s a punk thing and punk’s supposed to be rebellious but it’s a load of conformity. A lot of people dress and look the same and punk was never about leather jackets and spiked hair. If people want to do it that’s fine but we were never like that. We never tried to look different or any way special. It’s a paradox, it’s called Rebellion but they’ve all got the same style.”

Do you, or did you ever, have much to do with the Belfast punk bands at that time?

“Our song were always fast but there was never that aggression. We were never part of the Belfast scene, we got the Teenage Kicks recording through a friend of Fergal who knew Terri Hooley. Terri bought us fish and chips when we did the recording and we’re still grateful to him.

“Him and John Peel, then maybe third Peter Powell. All I wanted to do was make a record, then get played by Peel and then do Top of the Pops. That all happened really quickly and anything else was a bonus. I fulfilled my ambitions and that was it.”

How about the rest of those Rebellion bands – do you get on with them?

“We were never music business people. We made loads of mistakes and did things we shouldn’t have done. Most of the guys we meet are good guys. Just to give an example, back in 1979 we had the Chords supporting us in Guildford and Jimmy Pursey came on stage with Paul Cook and Steve Jones. It all went crazy, speakers were falling down, mic stands getting stolen, it was crazy.

“Fast forward to maybe 2024, Paul Cook was playing with the Professionals, I went up to him and introduced myself and he apologised for what had happened. Then last year I did the same thing to Steve Jones, he remembered as well and apologised again.”

You still seem amazed that your fellow musicians have got so much respect for you.

“I’m not aware of it. I’m just amazed that all the bands I listened to I’ve ended up meeting and we all get on. Rat and Captain Sensible from the Damned, Jean Jacques Burnel from the Stranglers, when we supported them they insisted we got a proper soundcheck. Then we had Hugh Cornwell supporting us. He’s like an eccentric old schoolmaster but we got on exceptionally well.”

“We’ve never been the showbizzy type, we’re always backward. There’s lots of times I’d have liked to speak to someone but I’ve stepped away. I’m just grateful to be touring. I’m no better or worse than anybody.”