A total of 1,267 calls, texts and online chats were made to Childline services on December 25^th, a 25% rise on last year’s figure.

Childline said that a number of the young people who got in contact on Christmas Day spoke about tension in their homes due to fraught relationships and alcohol consumption. Children also described missing loved ones and feeling sad and lonely.

John Church - chief executive of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) –commended the volunteers who give up time this year to ensure children's calls would be answered.

“We are hugely grateful to each of the Childline volunteers who give up time with their own loved ones throughout the holiday season to make sure that children have somewhere to turn when they seek support. A call to Childline can be life-changing for a child or young person”.

“Childline is there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for children and young people throughout Ireland who seek a listening ear . . . Childline volunteers show tremendous commitment and dedication in working tirelessly and passionately to bring about positive change in the lives of all children and young people in Ireland."

“The service relies on the sustained generous support expressed by the general public and for this we sincerely thank everyone who has supported us in 2018.”

In 2017 Childline answered 381,911 calls, texts and online messages from children and young people, with a 33% increase for online and text options according to their annual report.

Last year volunteers donated over 55,645 hours to the ISPCC which costs over 3.5 million to run annually and relies on public and corporate donations for over 90% of this funding.

Recently, artists including Hozier, Walking on Cars and Chasing Abbey helped to raise half a million euro for the charity at the 2Fm Xmas ball on December 14th 2018.

Childline can be contacted by calling 1800 666 666, by texting 50101, or by going to their website at https://www.childline.ie/