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It was swing time in Lisburn on Thursday as the city centre turned back the clock to wartime with an old time tea dance – starring a Belfast woman who had her first dance with an American GI in 1944 and hasn’t stopped jiving since.

Phyllis McCartney, 96 years young, from Newtownabbey was living in north Belfast when thousands of US troops began pouring into Northern Ireland ahead of the D-Day landing in Normandy.

In early 1944 the soldiers had no idea exactly what plans were being drafted by the generals, but they had plans of their own to have as much fun as possible before the great offensive they all knew would come eventually.

These were exciting times for the young women of Belfast and Phyllis recalls joining the crowds flocking to dance the night away at venues in the city centre and beyond.

However, just short of her 17th birthday, she was under the watchful eye of her big sister.

“Where CastleCourt (shopping centre) is, well that was the Grand Central Hotel, and on the other side was the Royal Avenue Hotel, where the Yanks used to go.

"They would say ‘hello honeybun’ to me, and then my sister would go, ‘I knew that would happen!’

"But as long as I was dancing I didn’t care.

"And I used to go to the Plaza an awful lot, and the Yanks would go to, and we really got jiving then.

"There was a dance hall on every corner and all you heard was music.”

The song Phyllis remembers most fondly from those halcyon days is ‘We’ll Meet Again’ by Vera Lynn, and it proved as popular as ever at the Lisburn tea dance.

"We had the Plaza, the Palace, and down in the Gala, and then there was Royal Avenue,” Phyllis recalled.

"Every night we were going, and it was only a shilling.”

Phyllis even met her husband at a dance studio.

"We then took up competitive dancing and I won the All-Ireland Latin American Championships six years in a row – that was in the late 1960s.

"We had a marvellous time, but there’s nothing like that for the young ones now.”

Phyllis added: "I’m out every day dancing. Sometimes it’s just too far away, but as long as there is a bus, I’ll be there.”

Phyllis (96): I'm out dancing every day - as long as there's a bus, I'll be there