The Irish Times

Upon learning that Dublin City Council inspectors gained access to one of his properties, landlord Marc Godart ordered that the workers he deemed responsible be sacked and outstanding wages withheld. For more on this story go to irishtimes.com.

In Conor Pope’s exclusive interview with Santa, Irish kids from Bray, Co Wicklow to Queensland, Australia, messaged the man in red with questions asking about his habits, from beard grooming to cookie-eating, what sort of exercise he takes and how, he circumnavigates the world in one night, and much, much more.Thank you to all the boys and girls who sent voice and email messages. Unfortunately Santa couldn’t get to all of them but he has taken your names and checked them against his list, twice, so expect nice surprises on Christmas morning.M&S Food has everything you need for the festive season, including a wide range of snacks that Santa will enjoy to leave out for him on Christmas Eve

Trisha Lovett 's letter to her friend Carrie Lee. Read by Rosita Boland.

A Christmas card sent by Trisha Lovett to her friend Belinda Lee. Read by Rosita Boland.

Ann Lovett's Christmas letter to her friend Belinda Lee.Read by Rosita Boland.

Trisha Lovett's note to her friend Belinda Lee after Ann Lovett's death. Read by Rosita Boland.

A note written by Ann Lovett to her friend Belinda Lee. Read by Rosita Boland.

Christmas Eve is Santa’s busiest night of the year. Mrs Claus, the elves and all the reindeer help with the preparations. The lists have been made, checked at least twice. The brakes on the sleigh have been tested and tested again and the harnesses polished by the stable team who will also check that all the jingle bells are in fine working order.For the occasion the reindeer too will have all been fully groomed, their hooves oiled to perfection, Conor explains. He says that Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Donner, and Blitzen will also have been fed a warming mash that includes a magic mix that helps them be able to make that epic trek, traversing time barriers and exceeding sky speed limits to circumnavigate the globe in just one night.We ask Conor, is he excited? “I have been looking forward to this interview for months. How could I not be? I mean, it is Santa Claus, the most important person in the whole wide world right now and the one absolutely everyone wants to impress this week,” he says.It is the most important interview he will do all year and he has some very pressing questions that he plans to ask him. “Loads of questions have been put to him by boys and girls and mammies and daddies all over Ireland and those questions are great. People have asked how he manages to get around to all the houses in the world in just one night and whether or not he likes mince pies. There have been questions about his reindeers and his sleigh and all sorts of other tricky questions that I am sure he will be able to answer.”But what about the one question he is planning to ask? Conor in fact has two. “Am I on the nice list this year?” and “what present does he plan to leave for me under my tree?”.