1) Is not correct. Your status as either being VAT registered or not has no bearing on your supplier charging you VAT . They must charge you VAT if the goods are VATable goods and if they are VAT registered. THey have no choice in the matter.
The €55,000 was ( now €70,000 since 01/03/07) the sales threshold that once exceeded you MUST register for VAT. Thst's what your "advisor" may have been referring to. I must say things get really twisted out of reality when people who have no idea what they are talking about try and give advice to other people. I would be extremely wary of taking any further advice from that particular source.
2) You may reclaim VAT only once registered for invoices issued to you after the date of registration. Registration for VAT may in certain cases be backdated to the start of the current VAT period. You may also register voluntarily for VAT even if under the €70,000 sales threshold, and in certain cases this may be advantageous. I'd suggest you contact a qualified accountant ( you'll most likely need one anyway )who could advise you properly.