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<\/p>\nIrish children who have made the nice list will be able to receive presents from Father Christmas this year after he was given official permission to enter the country’s airspace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night confirmed that Santa had been granted leave to cross the border on the night of December 25 for the purpose of rewarding good children in Ireland.<\/p>\n
In a statement to the\u00a0D\u00e1il he said that rules on immigration, customs and the movement of animals had been waived for the sack-laden traveller, his sleigh and his eight-strong team of airborne reindeer.<\/p>\n
The news – an annual tradition – will come as a relief for families across the country and perhaps act as a spur for children currently on the naughty list to try to make last-minute amends.<\/p>\n
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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night confirmed that Santa had been granted leave to cross the border on the night of December 25 for the purpose of rewarding good children in Ireland.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0In a statement to the D\u00e1il he said that rules on immigration, customs and the movement of animals had been waived for the sack-laden traveller<\/p>\n
In a session of Leaders’ Questions, Mr Varadkar said:\u00a0\u00a0‘I would like to confirm that Santa Claus has permission to enter Irish airspace and to cross our borders on December 24 through December 25.<\/p>\n
‘I want to thank IAA, INIS (the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service), Department of Agriculture, and Revenue Commissioners for allowing necessary exemptions to occur.’<\/p>\n
Although Ireland has a small air corps in its Defence Forces, it has no fighter aircraft, so the biggest threat to the global joy-bringer would have come from the Royal Air Force.<\/p>\n
In the summer the Irish Times revealed the existence of a pact in place since the 1950s effectively giving the UK responsibility of policing the republic’s airspace and downing any intruders.<\/p>\n
Though the agreement was initially set up to death with Russian threats, arrivals from Lapland would also be closely monitored and potentially intercepted by RAF Typhoons.<\/p>\n