‘We always wear Christmas hats’: The workers who don’t get a day off

Christmas Day, for many people, is sacrosanct as a holiday, with strictly nothing more strenuous on the cards than visiting relatives and snoozing on the couch while digesting the annual feast. But there is a cohort for whom it is a work day like any other, staff who provide essential services that don’t stop no matter what day of the year it is. Some of those workers tell us why it’s business as usual on December 25th.

Brendan Walsh, senior zookeeper, Dublin Zoo

I have been working in Dublin Zoo since 1996. I have wanted to work here since I can remember – I always wanted to be a zookeeper.

I have worked a lot of Christmases over the years and, like anyone in a job that isn’t just nine to five, Monday to Friday, you just get on with it. It’s a fair system – our roster just works as normal, so it depends when Christmas falls, you get lucky or you don’t.

This year Christmas is on Monday so I am working but I don’t mind – we split the shifts so we are only in for a half day but we make sure that staff are here throughout the day. My son is six now so it is nice to be off but I don’t mind.

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Some animals, such as the reptiles and the big cats – the carnivores – wouldn’t need to be fed every day but most of the animals need to be fed at least twice a day. The primates, elephants, hippos, rhinos and birds all need two feeds a day.

It has been funny over the years when people assume I am off on Christmas Day just because the zoo is closed – the animals still need to be taken care of.

Two years ago I got Covid on Christmas Day and I finally got a taste of what it is like to sit on the couch for a few days over the holidays because I would always be working over the Christmas period even if not on the actual day itself.

The atmosphere here on Christmas Day is lovely – I adore Christmas myself and so do most of my colleagues, so we always have a nice time and wear our Christmas hats. It’s very calm here on Christmas Day, because there are no visitors or no contractors in, so it’s quite peaceful. But every day is different in the zoo so I love coming in here every day, even if it is Christmas Day.

Martin Barrington, watch officer, Irish Coast Guard

I am the longest-serving watch officer with the Irish Coast Guard. My career began in 2003 and I am still there to this day. Everyone that comes through our doors has a maritime background – I served in the Irish Naval Service for 15 years before starting here in the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Dublin.

Given the nature of our job and the work that we do, Christmas Day is no different from any other day of the year for us. Our work is 24/7, 365 days a year – the coastguard are the fourth blue light emergency service, along with the guards, the ambulance service and the fire service.

We respond to incidents as and when they occur, and it can be very unpredictable around that time of year. You have events such as charity swims on Christmas Day or people can simply go out for a walk and have a bad fall. You’d like to say the memorable Christmases are the quiet ones where nothing happened but we have had some very sad incidents on Christmas Days as some people find Christmas extra difficult and that can lead to some distressing call-outs.

Three of us work in the centre – there is the search-and-rescue mission coordinator and the other two officers monitor the distress channels. We also have to broadcast maritime safety information, monitor the sea-area forecast and issue radio navigational warnings. If you are dealing with multiple incidents at once it can be very demanding but that’s why we work as a team in the operations room and co-ordinate the response to all the incidents appropriately.

The only downside of working over the holiday period is being absent from home and missing family and friends. I suppose it’s a sacrifice but one that we signed up for when we chose this career and it is such a rewarding job. The Coast Guard doesn’t stop, we just keep going and Christmas Day is no different from any other day of the year

Valerie Morrissey, Samaritans volunteer

Twenty-six years ago I was driving home on Christmas Day after spending the perfect day with my family. You couldn’t have knitted a better Christmas. I was driving the kids home in the dark and an ad came on the radio for the Samaritans.

It was a light-bulb moment for me, when I realised not everyone had had a day like me. I kept repeating the phone number the whole way home and when I got home I left the kids in the car, went in and picked up the phone and rang them asking to volunteer.

I joined initially as a listening volunteer. The training is provided for you to go on the phone and I started there but then I branched out because there are other things we do, such as going into prisons and schools, and doing outreach and mentoring. But at heart I am a listening volunteer and I have worked every single Christmas Day since that day.

It can be an extra hard day for people; all the consumerism of Christmas can really impact people living in poverty or people who are alone and have no family, and have no one to gift and no one to get gifts from. But also it’s a time when people reflect more strongly on loss – for lots of our callers it’s the first Christmas without someone they love.

I am not there twiddling my thumbs on Christmas Day; the phone is being answered constantly. The only difference to any other day is that we might wear our Christmas jumpers but we are very respectful and honoured that people call us to share their problems.

Nothing comes between me and my duty to Samaritans on Christmas Day. My kids grew up with it and even now, when they are grown up and married and have homes of their own, the question is always, “What time are you in Sams on Christmas Day Mam?”