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Eithne Shortall: Emigrants know that things would be different, if they ever decide to come back

Coming home for Christmas inevitably ends in a heavy-hearted departure and awareness of impending homesickness, coloured by the artifice of nostalgia

Aoife Ó Ceallaigh, coming home from San Francisco for Christmas, is hugged by her sister Eilis Ó Ceallaigh from Co Meath at Dublin Airport, Dublin. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos

Few things set the mood for Christmas like the annual news report from Dublin Airport in which returning emigrants are filmed embracing family members. But while the busiest day of the festive period was December 23, with 98,000 passengers passing through the airport, another day came close. Around 94,000 people moved through the terminals on January 2 – last Monday – but there were no camera crews present for that. Sombre faces and heavy hearts ...