Wishing our readers a Merry Christmas at the end of a difficult year

News Letter editorial on December 24 2020:
News Letter editorialNews Letter editorial
News Letter editorial

So much of 2020 has been upended, and thrown out of the normal calendar of events, that it seems hard to credit the fact that it is Christmas.

It is like no other such festive season in living memory, except for those people, now into their 80s or beyond, who can remember the war and the blackout.

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Christmas has not quite been cancelled but it has been radically curtailed due to Covid-19. There are no bars. There is no Christmas market in Belfast. There have been no parties. For the early part of the month, normally a hectic shopping and social season, there were no non essential shops.

For much of the last few weeks there have been no church services, and services will be heavily curtailed tomorrow.

Now people have been unable to travel home to Northern Ireland to spend cherished time with loved ones. While flights have not been cancelled, many people will not want to run the risk of being turned back, as was threatened by politicians in a bid to see off the Sinn Fein demand for a ban on movements across the Irish Sea.

It is no surprise that, as our front page showed yesterday, people who did fly into Belfast International this week were seen embracing their greeters. While hugging is clearly unwise outside of a household bubble, and while people should make great efforts to adhere to social distancing for their own sake and their loved one’s sakes (and indeed for society’s sake), it is hardly unexpected to see people drop their guard after nine months of restrictions and obedience.

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Even so it is important tomorrow to maintain distancing and in the coming days to think in terms of those social gatherings which can be deferred until a safer time in 2021.

We wish our readers a Merry Christmas at this difficult time, and thank them for continuing to support this paper.

It has been publishing without a break since 1737, including during crises much greater than the present one.

We are back in the shops on Boxing Day and will be publishing as normal all through the remainder of the holiday.

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A message from the Editor:

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Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

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Alistair Bushe

Editor/