Some 350 Irish residents were repatriated on flights from the UK on Tuesday, two days after a travel ban came into effect to prevent a new mutation of coronavirus from spreading.
Among them was Sherron St Clair, who had buried her son. Her son Ysra (28) died recently, and she had been to London for his funeral.
"I buried my son on December 21st," she said, after arriving at Terminal 1 on a Ryanair repatriation flight. "He lived in London so we went to bury him. We are just coming back. It's so good to be home."
She was returning to Greystones, Co Wicklow, to quarantine.
Mick Morrissey from Kilmeaden, Co Waterford, was also in London for a funeral. "I flew over on Saturday, and the funeral was yesterday. There were no flights so a Waterford TD got us here on the repatriation flight."
Mr Morrissey said his car was at the airport and he would drive home to Waterford for the Christmas period. “It’s great to be back. Even though I have family in London, this is home.”
Some 1,000 people contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs helpline set up to assist those left stranded in the UK since Monday. Two flights were arranged for Tuesday, one landed after 7pm and another was due after 9pm.
Saphron Werfelli went to London to visit her brother with her mother Caroline and son Alex (7).
"We went over with the best of intentions for Christmas, intending to stay for four or five days. But we got an awful shock when everything was cancelled," Ms Werfelli said. "It's a bit of a disaster so close to Christmas. My seven-year-old was with us so we didn't know if Santa would know where we were. We were trying to organise contact with the elves to make sure they knew where to bring the presents."
Waiting at home
Ms Werfelli fiancee, father and sister were waiting at home in Limerick, and would have been "heartbroken" if the family did not make it home.
“We were hoping to go home tomorrow but the Department of Foreign Affairs said our flights wouldn’t be guaranteed. The admin was a bit messy because we weren’t on the official list, but we did all the paperwork and stayed up for 24 hours to sort it.”
She added that she and her family would be arranging a Covid-19 test after their drive home to Limerick, but did not specify whether they would also isolate for two weeks.
Two sisters who were living in the UK for university returned home to visit their parents after months apart. Their mother picked them up at the airport to take them back to Drogheda,
Tosin Darmola, who studies public health in Essex, and her sister Tobi, who studies law, said they were "worried" about the new strain of the Covid-19 virus, but, Tobi said, "it's still the same virus, and the same restrictions, so we are going to quarantine for two weeks".
The initial 48-hour ban on travel to and from Britain has been extended until December 31st.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus are continuing to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs to organise repatriation flights for Irish residents. A smaller number are being accommodated on ferry routes.