We're all set for a bumper Christmas in Carrigstown, five Fair City stars have been telling us. And as for 2026, well, read on...
Kiara Noonan (Nikki)
It's quite a warm Christmas for Nikki. Kira and Mondo are over at Cass's for Christmas, and Kira and Nikki don't get on. Nikki loves to wind Kira up, and Kira being Kira, takes it all so seriously! Darren makes a wish for Seán to be his stepdad. Seán and the kids have a lovely discussion in the episode - a lovely moment - and it ends with a hug. Cass brings the kids up to bed for a story. And Nikki and Seán find themselves under the mistletoe... and I will leave that there!
I think people really want a happy ending for Nikki, but you never know. It's one of the best things about soap: you just never know what's going to happen. I know lots of people were thinking, 'Oh, Nikki and Doug...' when all this happened with Doug and Erica and the wedding and stuff. Before that, people were saying, 'Nikki and Seán...', and now we're going to go back to, 'Is it going to be Nikki and Seán?' Or is there going to be someone else? The writers write so well for Nikki on our show, and I've noticed the public are starting to really warm to her. She's a single ma doing her best.
Harry and Callie, who play Darren and Kim, are great kids. They're so professional. They come on set, they know their lines, they'll have a little folder with their scripts in. They're brilliant. I love when the kids are in with us because we're all going to have a laugh. We'll sit and have lunch and find out, 'How are you getting on in school?' and stuff like that. Their parents and myself are friends on social media. I adore working with Ryan Andrews, who plays Seán. He's an absolute gentleman, and he's great with the kids. Lynseyann [Mulvey-Bowe], who plays Kira, actually only lives five minutes down the road from me. We're quite good friends; we're talking all the time. She's an absolute angel. Stephanie [Kelly], who plays Sash, we have been friends 15/20 years. You have a natural chemistry with people who are your friends.
If I had one wish for Nikki in 2026, I would like to see her actually settle down and have a job - and I don't mean her working a few shifts on the sly in the pub so that the social welfare don't find out! - but not lose that spark, that cheeky spark that she has about her. I think we're actually going to see a bit of Jacinta and Nikki together in the New Year, which I have been dying to see! They both have that Dublin thing about them. No filter, definitely!
Gerard Jordan (Steo)
This Christmas is going to be a topsy-turvy one. It's going to be one where Paul and I are kind of going at each other, tit for tat. Does Steo get one up on Paul? We'll have to see - on Christmas Day. It's one of them! It's for the audience to decide who gets one over the other. It's pretty much very even between them over the Christmas period, I would say.
It's really enjoyable to play as well because there's a big surprise coming at Christmas/going into the New Year. Myself and Paul more or less join forces for a brief time. That's all I can give away there! It's going to be good. It's going to be great for the viewers. There's a good few meaty storylines going from the Christmas into the New Year.
Paul is out for Paul, whereas Steo, although he's out for himself, he's doing it for the greater good of his baby son. Maybe he's struggling a little bit with the old minimum wage in The Station Bar - it's not enough for him to survive when he has a kid. There's always this intention behind everything he does for the good, even though he does come across as quite a nasty character sometimes. There's always this underlying issue that he's doing this to survive in the real world. He's doing this for his child. And also, as well as that, I think he wants to be a little bit like his dad JJ as well. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree! He's looking to impress his dad, whether it's going to be good for him or bad for him.
If I could wave a magic wand in 2026, I'd love to see Steo be the good dad that I know he can be, to settle down. I don't know how that's going to happen - whether he's single, whether he's with someone. [I'd like to see him] Get a stable job and just be happy with what he has and not look for more, more, more, more. I really enjoy playing him. I think he's trying his best to be a dad, but I think with his past, he's just not allowed to be. There's always something in the way. He thinks sometimes the only way that people will listen to him is by putting on this tough exterior. That's all he knows; that's where he grew up. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I know a load of Steo Nashes. Fathers that don't see their kids, that try and be there for their kids, and other stuff gets in the way. They're trying to be good, trying to be better, and they just can't catch a break.
Enda Oates (Pete)
This Christmas, Pete has a lot on his mind! He has to be Santa at the last minute, you know - and he finds it extraordinary that he wasn't asked to be Santa in the first place! So, his whole modus operandi for Christmas is that he should be Santa! He kind of lets everything else drift into the background, including, for some reason, the fact that he brings his present for Dolores to work with him! It gets lost in the midst somewhere, and that sends him into a tailspin! And as with Pete, he cannot hold on to anything - he blurts it out! So, he's trying to straddle being this joyous Santa to all the children while he's in an absolute sweat over what he's done with Dolores's present!
I think Dolores and Pete will still be together at the end of 2026. I think at this stage, after all the terrible things that she's done to him - or that he thinks she's done - and all the things he's said to her, the fact that they got back together and went, 'Look, we're too old for this oul nonsense!' I think they will still be together, but I think there's more mayhem on the way!
I love playing Pete as a peacock. But it's not just being the peacock, it's the fact that he goes afterwards, 'What's the problem?! What's wrong with all of ye?!' The self-awareness bypass! But he has a good heart, you see, and Pete has an awful job to do with Nora, Jacinta, and Renee creating hell for him. They seem to be a thorn in his side any time they come with principles or ideas. It just sends him 'round the twist - and he has some of that coming at Christmas as well! They're on to him again!
What would I like to see happen Pete in 2026? Oh geez, that's a tough one! If Pete was given any authority at all, it's a bit of a danger! The best thing he could do is get lucky, but if he's the architect of anything to do with himself, it's a disaster! If he's controlled to a certain extent, then it's fine. Pete as a city councillor?! Oh absolutely! We haven't had any political shenanigans in the programme for quite a while. I think the last councillor we had was Dermot!
Neilí Conroy (Sharon)
Sharon's been in the thick of it all year, really. Anto (played by Paul Ronan) died. So, this Christmas, they're just back from Spain with the baby - her, Ger, and Hayley. They scatter Anto's ashes on Christmas morning.
This Christmas, they're going to have a naming ceremony for the baby, but Sharon and Emma want a Christening! That makes for a bit of craic as well, kind of light after the hellish kind of few months before. Christmas is a bit of fun. We end up actually having dinner in the Raffertys' - me and Ger and Hayley! We weren't going to do Christmas [after Anto died], and Emma's ordered loads of food because she thinks there's going to be loads of people there. And then we go 'round for our dinner - and she lets on she made it! And then the cat's out of the bag. So, it's kind of fun. It's not too heavy like it has been for us.
It's really good fun working with Tina [Kellegher, who plays Ger], Rebecca [Grimes, who plays Hayley], and Tara [Flynn, who plays Emma]. Hayley's baby has three grandmothers: me, Ger, and Emma! The poor child! The baby is beautiful, and I got to hold him in a scene! For just a few seconds, but that was great. He's absolutely gorgeous. It's always good craic doing Christmas scenes because it's so bizarre. And then you feel you've done Christmas yourself!
My hopes for Sharon in 2026? I don't even know what's happening next week! We don't hear anything! I'm not going to say romance because that's such a cliché. I suppose to get her some space, some time on her own, and a bit of a life away from minding everyone, and to get over the death of her husband. Sharon's grief was kind of overshadowed by the baby and by Hayley's grief and Hayley's injury then [in the car crash]. So, Sharon didn't really get the space to grieve. I would say for the next year, I would hope you would see her still grieving as well, that it's not just forgotten about, that it's dealt with in a way that's realistic. And I'd hope she comes out the other end. I think Sharon's going to be alright. I'm on the show eight years next year! I can't believe it - I haven't been got rid of yet!
Matthew O'Brien (James)
I always think there's a careful balance with James. I think he's willing to do anything necessary to get what he wants, but I also think his heart is in the right place for the right reasons. I think it's very evident that he's still madly in love with his wife, Hayley. A lot of the animosity and the vitriol that comes out of him just comes from a place of love, in a weird way! It's one of those toxic relationships; we see them all the time. I genuinely don't know if the fans would want to see James back with Hayley. They're very similar in ways. They have a mercenary quality to them.
A big thing for the Raffertys - I was only talking to Tara [Flynn] about this recently, who plays my mother in the show - they're very good at closing ranks. You can insult them individually, and they insult each other within the family, but if there's a chink in the armour, they'll always 'form up' and do the phalanx. The fact that there's an heir on the line here with Baby Anthony/Scout is a thing. I don't know how Holly fits into all of this with the other baby, Milo! From the writing at the moment, it's very much like James is smitten with the new baby, and I wonder will that affect Milo, and then, by proxy, Holly?
I found this Christmas in Carrigstown very enjoyable to do. What's nice about the Christmas episodes is they're charming. There are some scenes in it that are very funny coming up - stuff that James has never been seen doing before! There's nice little kind of dark and light moments. Last Christmas was lovely too with Kayleigh Trappe; she was great. This year, it's nice to have Rebecca (Grimes, who plays Hayley) back. Rebecca is great; we always get on so well. And I know everyone says that, but it's genuinely so! It makes things so much easier.
What would I like for James in 2026? What I like about it is not knowing! I've already had such wonderful stories. The car crash was brilliant, the fire, the kidnapping. I mean, that's a lot of stuff there already that's been done. Bar him setting up a space programme in Carrigstown and sending missions to the Moon, I don't know where else he can go! I think with James owning a large share in McCoy's, there's going to be a lot of interesting plays there. Now, not only does he have two kids, he has Hayley in Carrigstown, and he has a business with the Marketplace and McCoy's. He has a lot more to lose than he had before. There is a lot of stuff there to be mined, and it's clear that things have been set up now for different types of drama. It could be a worse version of James - he could really plummet to the depths of depravity! - or he could kind of be better...
Fair City airs on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
