Children urged to get to bed early as Santa brings gifts to Ireland

Santa Claus has been given the all-clear to deliver Christmas cheer this year.

 Santa has received the green light to visit the children of Ireland tonight.

Multiple sources told the Irish Examiner that a last-minute hitch in Santa’s navigational system that mixed up Carrigaline and Crosshaven has been resolved and that he will arrive on time and on schedule.

Irish airspace will remain clear for the duration of Santa’s visit, although he travels so fast aboard his sleigh that Air Traffic Control towers in Cork, Dublin, and Shannon rarely even realise when he’s arrived.

“I could’ve sworn I saw a flicker on the radar that was reindeer-shaped last year,” said one pilot, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It’s understood the events of recent times have had little impact on Santa’s workshop and its operations in the North Pole, which has been working to capacity in recent weeks.

Naughty or nice?

A deluge of post from children across Ireland with their letters to Santa arrived to the North Pole throughout November and December, and a North Pole spokesperson said Santa has been diligently cross-checking these letters against his list of who’s been naughty or nice.

“It is with great pleasure that I can confirm the list is overwhelmingly in the nice column,” the spokesperson said. 

“Preparations are almost complete and Santa will be arriving in Irish airspace just after 11pm this evening.

“I can’t stress enough how important it is for children to make sure they get an early night tonight if they can, as Santa will be doing all he can to reach everyone as quickly as possible.” 

Santa tracker

Of course, Santa starts his journey a long while before he gets to Ireland and you can keep track of his progress on this rather handy map created by the North American Aerospace Defense Command at noradsanta.com

The North Pole representative added that he hoped everyone would feel “the magic of Christmas” again this year and told children to enjoy the special day.

“Wherever you are this Christmas Eve, Santa will do his utmost to find a way,” the spokesperson added.