Santa Claus is coming to town - and he’s behind the wheel of a bus
SANTA Claus has temporarily ditched his one-horse open sleigh to do some practice runs on a Dublin Bus in preparation for his big night.
Santa – also known as Thomas Byrne – has been busy bringing festive cheer to Dublin commuters in the countdown to Christmas.
Mr Byrne – who has been donning his red suit to the delight of passengers for the past 14 years – has become a much-loved sight among children on board the 42 bus to Portmarnock.
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I’ve loved Christmas since I was a kid, and I had this idea [of dressing as Santa on his bus route]. I went to one of the bosses and asked if it would be okay.
‘I had to go through all the health and safety procedures in the company and they weren’t very sure if it was feasible and safe for me to do, but they said “yeah” in the end.
‘Thank God the air conditioning in the bus is good!’
Mr Byrne has added to his festive show over the years, and now brings a wireless speaker onboard to blast out festive tunes to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.
‘I have a very decent speaker there now so everyone can hear it,’ he said. ‘It’s not overpowering, it’s just there so that people get on the bus and can hear the music.’
The seasonal spectacle starts every year on December 1, and Byrne doesn’t hang up his Santa costume until Christmas Eve.
Throughout the festive period, the big-hearted bus driver is mobbed by fans looking for a photo with the bus-driving Santa.
‘I’m used to it now, but the first year I did it I couldn’t believe the people, how happy they were and how amazed they were, getting on buses and taking pictures,’ he recalls. ‘I have a lot of people walking past the bus at the stop and asking me whether I’d mind having a picture taken.’
He said he regularly gets offers from across the country to reprise his role as Santa, but insists he won’t accept money, saying he does it purely for the love of it. ‘I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t like it or looked down upon it. It’s a monumental task being on different shifts,’ he says.
‘I could be there at 5am to get prepared and all geared up to be Santa Claus. Then I get to work and drive the bus all day, and it is very tiring, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘The whole thing about life in general is to try to make people as happy as you possibly can.
‘If I can do this just by doing
Santa Claus and making people smile, I might take the sadness that they’ve had for just a couple of minutes and put a smile on their face and give them a nice happy feeling.
‘I feel good about that.’