The advice that people should not book flights home for Christmas shows a "disconnect" between politicians and those living abroad, according to an Irish comedian based in London.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar told the Dáil on Thursday that it is too early for people to book flights home without knowing what the coronavirus restrictions will be.
He acknowledged that the advice was "tough" but said that "Christmas is six weeks away and it's too soon now I think for people to be booking flights to come home".
The decision will largely rest on advice from the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and he has previously suggested that international travel could be riskier in the weeks before Christmas than it is now.
Jarlath Regan, a comedian and host of the Irishman Abroad podcast who lives in the UK, said Mr Varadkar's comments indicate a lack of understanding of what it's like for Irish emigrants.
He told Newstalk Breakfast with Susan Keogh: "My first reaction about holding off booking the fights kind of annoyed me and I know it annoyed a lot of people like me.
"It just suggested the disconnect between these people and their understanding of what life is like for Irish people abroad.
"Very very few people, certainly nobody I know, has booked a flight home for Christmas in November, even in a pandemic, you've either made your plan or you haven't.
"Many of us made those plans six months ago and booked our flights in the hope that maybe things would be ok.
"The more I reflected on it, the more I realised Leo should have just used the words, 'if you've got flights booked, if you've got travel arrangements made, you may need to ask yourself is this the right thing to fo for your country'.
"I think the wording he used may have upset people but there's some courage needed here."
'Not much thought' on Irish abroad
Jarlath said he has plans to come home for Christmas on the boat from the UK via boat and that he has arranged a place to quarantine upon his arrival.
However, he says those plans are now "in the air".
He said: "Everyone abroad is thinking very conscientiously as far as I can see about whether they will honour their plans or completely cancel them.
"I just didn't know who Leo was speaking to when he said this, it suggested to me that he didn't and had never polled or asked or talked to people abroad.
"And this is a feeling that a lot of Irish abroad can feel a lot of the time that not much thought is given to their experience, getting them home or encouraging them to get home or even now, now they have to think about us because we pose a massive risk if we do come home."
Jarlath said the guidance and messaging "seems to be the biggest problem" with governments at the moment, including in Ireland and the UK.
He said the messaging from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been "confusing and contradictory" throughout the pandemic and if people living in Ireland had experienced it, they would "probably appreciate the Irish government a lot more".
He has created Christmas cards this year which reflect 2020 as "if there's ever a year to send a card to someone you won't see it's probably this year".
