It’ll be different this Christmas...

• Author: Tanya Sweeney
• Published date: 19 December 2020
• Date: 19 December 2020

'We sold them a house, and now they're coming for Christmas dinner' When auctioneer Fintan Cahill sold a house in Virginia, Cavan, to Rolf and Denise McLoughlin back in February, no one involved had any idea of what was just around the corner.

"We were actually thinking of buying in Donegal, but then we came through Virginia and saw some really lovely properties there, and that was that," Denise recalls. "We also loved that it wasn't too far from the airport - we would tend to see family in London and Kent, so that was a bonus for us."

German-born Rolf and Denise relocated from the UK to Cavan in February, yet their plans to settle in and meet the locals took a dramatic turn.

"I'd just found a Zumba class I like and was delighted, and then it got shut," recalls Denise.

Fintan's wife Kathryn realised that the pair were struggling to meet new people in the area during lockdown. "They're lovely, sociable people, but they were stuck," she recalls. "We kept in touch with them, so we invited them around for Christmas, to make a night of it."

"The invite from Fintan and Kathryn was wonderful," notes Denise. "It was certainly way above the call of duty.

"Our typical Christmas is very quiet, where we batten down the hatches, and wouldn't go for the big dinner," Kathryn adds. "We're setting the bar high this year though - we're getting the Richard Corrigan [Christmas dinner] hamper."

"I've never had strangers in my house for Christmas, but we kept in touch with Rolf and Denise after the house sale," Kathryn laughs. "I wouldn't have asked them if I didn't truly enjoy their company - I'm not that altruistic!"

'It's my first Christmas volunteering on a helpline' Dubliner Colene Faulkner started training with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre earlier this year, and took her first calls on the helpline as a volunteer over the summer.

"If this was something that happened to my mother or sister, I'd like to know that someone is there to support them," Faulker says. "It can be hard on the line, hearing people being sad and upset, but in the long run, you know you're helping people simply by being there to answer the phone."

When the organisation was looking for volunteers to cover Christmas shifts, Faulkner immediately put herself forward.

"I've no issue at all volunteering on the line over Christmas," she says. "Christmas is the one time most people get to be with their families, but not everyone has that.

"You never know what the calls will be like, but Christmas will just be...