Especially in a cost-of-living-crisis, is it fair to expect hosts to pay for Christmas dinner?

Rollercoaster.ie editor Sarah-Jayne Tobin told Lunchtime Live that herself and her siblings might not contribute financially - but they do bring a dish to their parents' house now that they’ve grown up.

“It was kind of an unspoken thing that happened a couple of years ago,” she said.

“I suppose that we – myself and my brother and sister – got to a certain age and you know, we moved out and we had our own families and stuff like that.

“It just kind of happened that we all just started taking it upon ourselves to make a dish each.”

Ms Tobin pointed out some Christmas dinner items can be hugely expensive.

“Especially if you’re having a big gang over for Christmas day, it is a little bit harsh, I think, to expect the house to foot the bill for absolutely everyone,” she said.

“I was horrified when I saw the price of turkeys last year.

“I’d look after the starter or the pudding or whatever [normally], but I had to do the turkey last year and couldn’t get over the price of the bird.”

'It's just something small'

Caller Tommy from Galway said that he had never been asked but would always give people money if invited to their house for Christmas dinner.

“There was never even any expectation but it was something that I just did,” he said.

“These people have to buy the food the same as the rest of us – and so why should I go to somebody’s house and expect them to feed me?

“They have their bills to pay the same as anyone else so you know, it’s just something small."

Tommy said it would ‘spoil’ the day for both parties if the host had to ask for money.

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