i need to put up a few tiles in the kitchen
all the walls are new plasterboard with a first coat of pva followed by two coats of matt emulsion
i have tried the masking tape 'test' by leaving a strip on for about 30 mins & then ripping it off, there was'nt any peeling instead a layer similar to a fine mist was left on the tape
in other words 90% of the emulsion stayed on the wall
would i be alright tiling the wall with readymix adhesive & using some tiling primer on top of the paint?

PVA before paint is a no no, who told you to do that? It is also a no no for tiles, basically if it gets wet/damp it will return to liquid for rendering anything stuck to it completely useless.

As for the tiles, how many, what size and material, this will dictate what you can and cannot do and what adhesive to use, although use of the PVA may cause future problems.

a few people recommended pva before paint to me but oh well it's all done & dusted now....
i just need one row of medium tiles around my sink & maybe 2 rows around my cooker and worktop
i have some tiling primer if this will work on top of emulsion paint?

As i have already said, what size and type of tiles

Tiling primer wouldn't do much on top of emulsion. If it's a row or two of 200 / 250mm tiles then you can get away with it - best to use bagged addy rather than tubbed.

Could key up the wall a bit first - just be careful not to damage the underlying plasterboard.

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If at first you don't succeed - remove all evidence that you tried.

Score the wall with an old hand saw then tile. Bagged adhesive is always a safe bet.