Edel Coffey: Christmas Eve is permission to finally down tools

Christmas Eve reminds me of the feeling I used to get at the end of an exam, a feeling of utter relief commingled with a little bit of guilt – could I have studied more, or made a bigger effort? Either way, it was too late now.

Christmas Eve is the last stand, the last remaining defence against capitalism and the commercialisation of Christmas

I love Christmas Eve. It’s like the timer going at the end of The Great British Bake Off showstopper baking challenge.

You’ve had all this time to do your very best to make Christmas happen and now, there is no more you can do. It’s over. Time is officially up. Fin.