Amanda Grey: 'We came together for Christmas in Ireland this year because it is potentially my mum's last'
I live with my three kids in France. My sister, who lives in London with her French husband; my brother, who lives in Scotland with his Scottish wife; and I decided to get together for Christmas in Ireland this year because it is potentially my mum's last. She has been fighting pancreatic cancer for a year.
Sadly she was hospitalised for an urgent operation two days before Christmas, so we had the day without her. But it was great for the rest of us to be together. Myself and my brother left Ireland in 1989, followed by my sister a few years later, and we haven’t all had Christmas together since.
My parents live in Shankill in Co Dublin, but that wasn’t big enough for the 12 of us. So we rented a big house on Airbnb in Leitrim, near where my parents have a holiday cottage. The plan had been for all of us to spend Christmas down there with my mum, until she was taken to hospital.
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We then relayed it up and down to Dublin to see her so she wouldn’t be alone.
We had a lovely time despite the circumstances. My brother has two small children, aged nine and seven, so Santa still came, and we did kris kindle for the presents. My sister and I cooked the turkey overnight from a recipe from The Irish Times, which was great, but the dinner wasn't half as good as my mum would have made. Friends all weighed in and helped out; people have been so generous and so helpful.
My sister decided to stay on in Ireland with her baby, which was great. If we had all left together on the 28th as planned, I think my dad would have fallen apart. He’s holding up, but it is very hard.
I usually spend Christmas in France, seeing friends, going to parties, and rushing around the shops. It is very commercial there, but for me, Christmas in Ireland is magical. This year it was all about family, which is the way it should be.
Sarah Kenny: 'Moving home just before Christmas was perfect timing'
Myself and my boyfriend have been living in Amsterdam for the past four-and-a-half years, but we both intended to move back to Ireland eventually. I was lucky to secure a new marketing position with the Delphi Adventure Resort in Connemara earlier this month, so moving home just before Christmas was perfect timing.
It was only on the flight home that I finally realised, “That’s it, my life in Amsterdam has come to an end,” and I burst into tears. There were so many Christmas parties and packing to be done before we left that it didn’t sink in. The plane journey was very emotional.
Ruairí’s mum met us at the airport, which was lovely. We came straight down to Galway then. Moving back was a little unsettling. But seeing family straight away was really reassuring.
Christmas was such a nice time to move back, because everyone is home, everyone is in good spirits. My group of childhood school friends met on Christmas Eve for the 16th year. A few of them are living in London, but most of the ones who were living abroad have moved home now.
This Christmas was much more relaxed. Usually we have to try to cram in seeing everyone into a few days, but this year I was so tired after the move, I stayed in a lot and took a break.
My sister hosted Christmas Day in Galway, and my other sister and her family travelled from Dublin. My seven nieces and nephews were all there, and having the kids together makes Christmas so exciting. It’s very traditional in our house, always the same, and that’s why I love it.
Fr Derek Ryan: 'I hadn't seen such a blatant giveaway of money since the Celtic Tiger'
After taking three flights to get to Dublin from northern Mozambique, I arrived into Terminal 2 and sat at the bar where a chatty Italian barman pulled me the creamiest pint of Guinness. The sight of the black stuff and the familiar sounds of Irish people chatting settled me instantly.
I couldn’t go home to my family in Co Meath straight away. I live in an area in Mozambique with a high level of hepatitis, HIV and malaria, so I had to make a trip to a special clinic in Dún Laoghaire to get checked out. Within 15 minutes of seeing the doctor, he gave me the all-clear and told me to put on a bit of weight while I was home. I sent a text to my mother ordering a steak for dinner.
The journey across the city was interesting. There’s a new Luas line installation causing all sorts of disruption, a fascinating window display at Arnotts (or is it Selfridges now?), and the usual busyness of shoppers along pedestrian streets that often doesn’t reflect the poverty in many Irish homes.
I found the experience of walking the streets extremely tough, almost an attack on my senses. I had come from a quiet village on the side of a mountain in Mozambique, and was thrown into the mayhem of Christmas in the busiest city in Ireland. All I could think was “Get me out of here.”
My local credit union was offering quickly approved loans to help people get through the Christmas. Up to €2,500! I hadn’t seen such a blatant giveaway of money since the Celtic Tiger.
My grandmother has just turned 90, and my sister has recently given birth to a baby boy. So my trip was nicely timed. In a year that marked some wonderful Irish events like the Marriage Equality Bill, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland teams qualifying for the Euros, and Michael Conlon’s world-class performances, I was glad to be back and proud to be Irish.
I returned to my parish in Mozambique with a spring in my step and an open-armed embrace for the solitude of the mountain I now call home.
Fr Derek Ryan is a Catholic priest.
Colm Sharkey, Toronto: 'I thought there was a lot more homelessness'
We flew in the 20th, the Sunday, and then my sister's wedding was on the Wednesday, so we had that to prepare for. A friend of mine got married on the 27th as well, so we had two weddings, and Christmas in between.
We were here at the end of May so we weren’t expected home for my sister’s wedding; she got engaged in June. I’ve missed a lot of my friends’ weddings, because you can’t do them all, but to be there for my sister’s was important. Tadgh, our 16-month-old son, was the page boy.
We brought him home to meet some of the family he hasn’t met. My wife is pregnant again, due at the end of April. It could be a while before we can come back to Ireland, so it’s nice to be able to do it over the Christmas.
It was like old times sitting around the kitchen table; you have your fry-up, go to Mass, and come back and have your family dinner. It was good that my parents had the whole family there sitting around the same table, new husbands and old wives included.
I’ve been back a couple of times since I moved to Canada, and there are a few things that have changed. We walked around town to see all the lights, and I thought there was a lot more homelessness. I don’t remember that before.
Meeting up with all my friends, I noticed there are more renters. A lot of people my age in Canada would be homeowners, but a lot of my friends are still renting in Ireland because it’s hard for them to break into the property market. If I was still living here, I’d probably be renting too instead of owning.
Colm Sharkey is a construction project manager in Toronto.
Pat de Brún, Cambodia: 'The buzz is limited to Dublin. In Carlow it's a different story'
It's exactly a year since I was on Irish soil and it's the perfect time of year to come home. Everyone's in high spirits and it's really nice to be able to get everyone together. I have small nieces and nephews who are between one and four, so a year makes a massive difference in seeing them, so it's always special.
One of my sisters lives in London and she was going to Mexico for Christmas, so I wasn’t going to see her. That would have made it two years without seeing her and her kids, so when I was in Dublin, I made a last-minute decision to surprise her and flew over to London for a day. I’m really happy I did that.
I came back and went down to Carlow. We were hosting 15 people for Christmas dinner so there hasn’t been much of a moment to catch my breath. It’s been constant eating, drinking and merriment.
It’s never been the case where I’ve been home without thinking that I’d be living in Ireland again soon, but this time, I’ve had an odd feeling. I’ve come to realise just the nature of my career path, that it could be a very long time before I’m living in Ireland again, if at all.
It makes it all the more precious, and changes the dynamic with family, because we’re realising this could be the nature of our relationship for many years to come.
There’s definitely more positivity around Dublin I think; whether it’s the Christmas spirit or some form of economic recovery, I don’t know. There’s definitely a buzz that was missing for a few years, which is really nice to see.
But that’s pretty much limited to Dublin. Down the country in Carlow, it’s a different story. I don’t see much of a recovery; it seems to be kind of stagnating.
Although it’ll be very difficult to say goodbye to people, I feel like there are certain things that I won’t miss too much, like the weather. I love my life in Cambodia and I do miss people there too so there’s good and bad.
Pat de Brún does legal and advocacy work for the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.
