FIFTY two years ago Sean Flanagan, jobless and without prospects of obtaining employment in the dark 50s, left Ireland for the US along with his Dublin girlfriend Margie.This week, a half century after they married in New Jersey, the pair returned with a party of 42 friends and relations, including 29 grandchildren, for a dream holiday costing $62,350.Sean, now aged 74, trained as a motor mechanic but was still forced to emigrate to escape dire poverty. America proved for him to be a land of wonderful opportunity. He made his fortune in car sales and is now co-owner of a thriving Volvo dealershipBack in Dublin, he remembered picking wild mushrooms with his father from the fields of rural Inchicore, now a heavily-populated suburb of Ireland's capital city.He remembers: "When I was five or thereabouts before the crack of dawn we'd go, my dad and me and pick fresh mushrooms on McCutcheon's farm."He admits that he has returned to a country he scarcely recognizes from his youth. "There's less visible poverty", he said. "There's a lot more haves than have-nots - which is very good - but there's also a greater cynicism about religion." The huge party landed in Dublin airport on Monday. A tour bus awaited to transport them around Ireland. First they booked into the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire, eight miles south of Dublin. "I hope this place isn't too formal for a bunch of American brats," said Flanagan. The grandchildren soon felt at home - they found a Burger King nearby. Flanagan and Margie, decided to bring their family to Ireland to celebrate 50 years of marriage. They met in amateur theatre circles in Dublin. "She had seen me dying in a play on stage", he said.At the time, Margie worked for the now-defunct Irish Press newspaper.When they left Ireland, unemployment was rife. "I never wanted to leave but it was a terrible time", he told the Irish Independent. The couple's six children, Deirdre, 48, Sheila, 46, Brian, 45, Kevin, 42, Sean, 40 and Kieran, 38 have all visited Ireland over the years but it's a new experience for the grandchildren. He said: "Their children have heard them talking about Ireland all of their lives so it's a natural thing to bring them together." Some of the highlights of their 12-day tour will include trips to Bunratty Castle in Co. Clare, Kinsale in Co. Cork, and the Giant's Causeway n Northern Ireland. Flanagan and Margie now live in Florham Park in New Jersey.He summed up: "I was very fortunate being able to own a business in America but I learned my trade as a mechanic here in Ireland."