Christmas dinner, what's not to love? Well a few things actually. Traditionally it's a time when families come together to eat, drink, rejoice and fight but not necessarily in that order. Yet beyond the over-indulgence, the dysfunction, the booze and the gigantic dead bird, there is no denying that it's a special time of year. Whether you are the religious type or not, there is no other holiday quite like Christmas Day and there's no escaping the air of coming-home poignancy. For many this can be a reminder of what they have and what they take for granted. For others however, it can be a raw reminder of what they don't possess, or whom they are apart from.

John Monaghan, St. Vincent de Paul

In the week before Christmas we'll be delivering about 100 Christmas hampers in my parish of Leixlip. What happens is the local children from the primary and secondary schools, with their parents and teachers, get together to collect most of the foodstuffs but not all of it. We will still be buying things like turkeys, butter and tea to go in the hampers. Then we'll be out in the dead of night, early in Christmas week, delivering them to houses. We have to make sure to give out turkeys in plenty of time for Christmas Day, particularly if they are frozen, so they can be defrosted. Of course we also make sure that we deliver toys with a direct line to Santa Claus. So if we know of families who need toys then we ensure that they get to the North Pole on time and Santa Claus can deliver them to the children.

Christmas week is very busy but we would hope that the major organisation and deliveries would be all over by late on Christmas Eve. Occasionally I get an emergency call out on Christmas Day. For example, somebody might ring up and say they have absolutely no food in the house or no heating. That happens from time to time. Last year I got a call from the parish priest to say that there was a traveller family in difficulty and they needed a cylinder of gas, so we help in those situations.

In terms of my own Christmas Day, most of the cooking will be done by my wife but as you can imagine it is an all-hands-on-deck type of thing. My son is in Australia and sadly won't be with us but we will have my daughter and my married daughter and her new husband joining us for Christmas Day, so it will be a nice relaxing family Christmas Day. We'll all be mucking in; it will be a family effort. So nobody is at fault if the turkey gets burnt. We'll all be to blame!

The recession is definitely being felt by St Vincent de Paul throughout the country. The number of calls for help is up this year by about 40% and in some areas like Dublin, it's even higher. Significantly, 25% of people calling for help are people who have never been with us before. These are huge problems that we haven't seen for a generation.

Sr Mary Immaculata, Lives in an enclosed community of the Carmelite Order

Our Christmas really begins with the season of advent – four weeks before 25 December when the advent wreath is put in the chapel. After Vespers on Christmas Eve everything is about the preparation for the vigil mass at 9pm that night. For us, this mass is the highlight of our Christmas celebration.

During mass the outside crib is blessed and we sing carols. Over the Christmas season people will come there and pray. After mass we greet the people and wish each other a happy Christmas and then we have a cup of tea and we go to bed. Our Christmas Day begins with the singing of morning prayers at 8.30am followed by mass at 9am and at this mass we sing carols. After mass we greet our friends and then we are free to spend the day as we like.

A lot of time is spent together in community like any family. We have the traditional Christmas dinner together which lasts a long time. There are three sisters who do the cooking in rotation, so whoever happens to be on that week of Christmas would cook the dinner. We always have the usual Christmas food like turkey and ham and then mince pies. The washing up isn't a big problem because we have a dishwasher and the cooks wash their own utensils.

Friends and families give gifts to the sisters and we gather to give these gifts out from under the Christmas tree. After prayer some of the sisters may like to walk and talk or watch a video and write letters. Then Vespers is at 5pm as usual and we sing the prayers. The emphasis is now on rejoicing because Christ has become one of us and has come into the world.

The holiday continues for a week. Mass each day is later than usual so we can have a sleep in and the sisters are free to go to bed at any time in the evening. We really do all the things that other families do; we receive and send cards and family and friends come to visit the sisters. We also enjoy special food and have time to talk together and relax.

Tracy, A resident in Dublin Simon Community supported housing

The cook doesn't come on Christmas morning. She lives 40 miles away and gets her Christmas Day off. She wants to spend it with her family because she's always working. The other staff organise things on Christmas Day for us and we all get a present from them; gloves and hats and scarves, stuff like that. We cod each other when they're giving them out, making sure we all get our presents and nobody touches our stuff. We always have a big tree with decorations in the dining room and there's Christmas stuff all up around the house, on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. It's nice.

We all get up at different times on Christmas Day and for breakfast the staff do a big fry up. Then around one o'clock we have dinner with turkey and the whole lot. Then we watch telly or play bingo. You can win a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap or the fellas can get razors and shaving stuff. You just need to get a line or a full house. It's alright like, it's good craic and it's something to do. On Christmas Day you'd have loads of sweets like Roses as well but I don't eat them. I give them all away to my grandchildren. But it's a good buzz.

I've four kids alive and six grandchildren. My eldest daughter was murdered in England a few years ago and I have a badly disabled daughter who lives in Baldoyle hospital. She can't see or talk and is in a wheelchair but she can hear. She's great though. She was an angel in a Christmas play at the hospital three years ago. All the little children were talking about the baby Jesus being born. She can't see what's going on but she loves music. I'm knitting her a teddy bear and blanket for Christmas.

I lived in Baldoyle hospital myself for five years because of my disability – great place. We looked after her until she was three and a half but we were moving too much and we had to get help from the social workers. They were great and got her into the hospital. They always organise taxis for the whole family to go and visit her.

I've a daughter as well who lives with my sister down the country. She's very good, she's working, so she comes up to visit me every other week. My other two daughters are always coming here, they'd be like, "Come on mam, we're going to the café." They'll come to visit me Christmas week, maybe on St Stephen's Day. And they'll all ring me on Christmas Day.

I'm always reading. I love getting books for Christmas. I'm reading Cecilia Ahern's PS I Love You at the minute and I have another one belonging to her as well. I love a good thriller or something as well. I love Christmas, I've always loved Christmas. When I had my own family, Christmas was a big deal, everything had to be right and the kids got what they wanted, no matter what was going on. Christmas was a good time.

Ann Faft, Asylum seeker and voluntary worker Lives in Mosney Direct Provision Centre

Our Christmas season back home in Nigeria is very special. It's a season of reconciliation, when families are brought together. We make special dishes and food is exchanged amongst neighbours, friends and family. There are lots of festivities with different dance groups entertaining people in the streets and parks. Christmas back home is also a time to remember the birth of our Lord Jesus. It is not all about gifts. For most families this is the only time they get some new clothes, one outfit for going on visits at Christmas and the other for the New Year. It is also a time to open your doors to those who cannot afford to cook something special. This was what I enjoyed doing. I loved feeding the poor in the neighbourhood.

But my Christmas here is very different. I've been in Ireland for two years and two months with my children, who are nine-years-old and seven-years-old. We've been living in Mosney for five months now. Before that we were in a centre in Dublin. Mosney is a fantastic place to be and the staff here treat you like human beings. We have our own kitchens to cook in – if you can afford it – but we are not given any special allowance to cook. It's just the same €19.10 per week, but we are given provisions and toiletries weekly, so you make your breakfast and go to the canteen for your lunch and supper. So it's basically good when compared to other centres.

At my former hostel in Dublin, I shared a little room with the kids. They always wanted a Christmas tree but the room was too small to fit even the smallest Christmas tree. They wanted to wake up like other children and find gifts under the tree. They wrote letters to Santa like other kids. The management of that hostel did organise a Santa's grotto and the kids got gifts and took photos, which was fantastic since we couldn't afford to pay to visit the Santas in the shopping centres. When we moved to Mosney I was happy because I could now fit a Christmas tree in the house, and I am still looking out to get a tree for my kids but they might not have the gifts under it. The fact that Mosney is isolated means you cannot travel anywhere unless you have a car. So how does one bring the kids out to see the Christmas lights and feel the Christmas spirit?

Right now I have no plans for Christmas, so I will wait and see. I don't know if Mosney has anything special organised. Other residents have told me that it is very, very quiet here at Christmas. If anyone invites us over for Christmas dinner so be it. A nice family did ask us through a friend to their house last Christmas when they found out we had no place to go to. And the kids had a lovely time. But what I would like is to be able to make a special dish for my kids and fulfil their dream of finding their gifts under the Christmas tree.