Hook Lighthouse to guide Santa and reindeer into Ireland on Sunday night

WITH the risk of blustery conditions this Christmas Eve, special arrangements have been made at Hook Head, for the Lighthouse light to shine doubly bright to help guide Santa Claus and his team of reindeer into Ireland across the Celtic Sea from Land’s End in the UK.

Though Santa’s route around the world is always top secret, it is expected that if it’s stormy at all, Santa will head from France, up to the UK, before flying across to Co. Wexford for his first stop in Ireland.

This means that children in Wexford homes will have to make sure they are in bed on time on Christmas Eve, as he will zig zag his way across the county, from Hook Head over to Rosslare and up to Wexford town, before heading across to New Ross, and then up towards Enniscorthy, Bunclody and Gorey, stopping at every child’s home in between along the way.

If children are still awake, he won’t be able to call, and will have to return later, causing delays on the rest of his route.

Teams of SPCA volunteers are on standby across the county to help with any problems that might be encountered by the reindeer while they are in Co. Wexford, and they have undertaken special cold-weather training courses in antler de-icing, nose polishing, and hoof care.

Santa’s team of reindeer will be at full strength this year, and Rudolph may even be called upon to help guide the sleigh with his bright red nose, as the moon will be in its last quarter, and is not expected to provide much light.

Rudolph is only used when extra illumination is needed to help the reindeer team

void obstacles such as mountains, electricity pylons and tall trees.

Dasher, Dancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Prancer, and Vixen have been fed ona diet of high energy carrots for the past few weeks to ensure they are in tip top condition for the biggest night of the year.

There was a slight worry about one of Prancer’s legs, as he slipped on some ice during training, but thankfully he has been declared fit and ready for the big night.

Santa will use his on-board WiFi to access the latest mapping technology and the elves have spent months updating the co-ordinates of every home where he will visit, and have matched each letter with each house.

This ensures a very efficient delivery system of all the toys.

The traditional sleigh sat-nav system is also available as a back up should Santa’s on-board internet connection fail.

Full information on Santa’s progress is available on a special website www. noradsanta.org which is currently counting down the number of days, hours, and minutes until he leaves the North Pole.

This website will then track his progress as he follows the International Dateline around the world.

Once again, a warning has gone out to children asking them not to leave out too many carrots for the reindeer this year, as these cause them to break wind a lot.

This excessive build up of methane gas doesn’t make for a pleasant experience when you’re sitting in a sleigh behind-eight or nine reindeer. The additional methane in the atmosphere has also been known to cause dizziness in penguins.

A few blades of dry grass or a piece of fruit are recommended for the reindeer, while Santa is also on a strict diet, so low fat treats are recommended by Mrs Claus.

So, whatever the weather, Santa will indeed make it to Wexford on Christmas Eve, and he has promised a few very special surprises for boys and girls in Co. Wexford, because he has heard some very good reports from the Model County this year.

Wishing each and every boy and girl, and adult, in Wexford a very happy Christmas.