OVER 5,500 PEOPLE who are in need or are homeless will receive a Christmas dinner from the Knights of St Columbanus today, as the organisation marks its 101st Christmas Day Dinner.

This year 550 people will enjoy a three-course meal and entertainment at the RDS, while a further 5,000 people will have meals delivered to them by volunteers around Dublin.

Over 200 volunteers will come together to help give people a Christmas Day meal.

The religious charity works alongside organisations such as Alone, the Simon Community, Saint Vincent de Paul, Age Action Ireland and Dublin City Council to support people on Christmas.

Volunteers preparing takeaway meals at a previous Christmas dinner. The Knights of St Columbanus The Knights of St Columbanus

The Christmas Day Dinner is free of charge and no reservations are required. Free transport is provided for those travelling to the event from the city centre.

As well as a three-course meal, there will also be entertainment like Irish dancing and music at the RDS, and a dedicated quieter area for families. Gifts will be provided to children.

The Knights of St Columbanus – an Irish Catholic organisation founded in Belfast in 1915 by James K O’Neill – has organised a Christmas Day dinner for those in need since 1924.

Chairman of the organisation Trevor McNamara said “you just have to read the headlines in the paper” to see how many people are in need in Ireland.

Speaking to The Journal, he said that over the years the number of families attending the Christmas dinner has surged.

5,000 people will have meals delivered to them by volunteers around Dublin. The Knights of St Columbanus The Knights of St Columbanus

In November, the number of people living in emergency accommodation in Ireland hit a record high of 16,766, while Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP) said it expects to receive more than 250,000 calls for help this year.

“Every time you look you see a record number of homelessness,” he said.

“I’d love to see the numbers that we deal with shrink, but they haven’t in all the time I’ve been involved.”

Last year's dinner set up for guests at the RDS. The Knights of St Columbanus The Knights of St Columbanus

McNamara said that thanks to the efforts of volunteers, services such as the Capuchin Day Centre, who provide homeless support and meals, can close – the only day in the year they do so.

McNamara said the team make an effort to create a warm, festive, banquet-style atmosphere for the guests. 

He said seeing guests arrive on buses cold and often hungry, and leave full and happy is “heartwarming” every year.

“It’s the living embodiment of the Christmas spirit,” he said.

The first Christmas Day Dinner, in 1924, was provided to 500 guests, mostly homeless men, in Dublin’s Mansion House.

For the first 70 years, the event was hosted at the Mansion House but due to increasing demand, it was relocated to the RDS, where it has been held annually since 1994.