Séamas O’Reilly on the trials of getting home for Christmas

After turning down the offer of a taxi to Derry for the altogether reasonable sum of €700, I finally managed a bus to Galway. Picture: Egor Lyfar

Whenever people complain about Christmas coming earlier every year, I sometimes wonder what it is they’re complaining about. For some people, I understand Christmas is not the happiest of times and from that perspective, I can imagine a two-month build-up might not be desirable, but for those of us who actively enjoy the season, I’ve always been more in the “more of that thing I like, please” persuasion.

When I first moved to London, I ...