May half term from UK - visit home with kids

[MakeTeaNotWar]

I am Irish living in UK and haven't been home since Oct 19 as subsequent half terms trips have been cancelled and rescheduled.

I have flights for me and DC (10, 8) for the May half term but yesterday Aer Lingus rebooked us from Gatwick (10 mins down the road) to Heathrow (110 kms each way). Between that and the current situation, the logistics are stressing me out and I need to decide whether to re-arrange again.

Pros: seeing my parents for 1st time since Oct 19

Cons:
Won't know until May 17 earliest if travel permitted from UK
Heathrow 110km each way, what is easiest transport with 2 x kids+ luggage.
Neg PCR test result72 hours before arrival@£85 ppAre these required on return again to UK?
Mandatory 14 day quarantineon arrival -you may only leave your place of residence during the quarantine period for unavoidable reasons of an emergency nature Does that mean I can't take public transport? Train from Dublin (live in south east)
Reports of lengthy queues at Heathrow
Will quarantine be required on return? ie kids miss 10 days school
Mam not yet vaccinated (this may change)
What is open in Ireland? Can I see friends?

I know there will be more info on some of this from the Irish gov this week but at the moment my brain is fried. I feel like a trip in May would be stressful, expensive and restricted but then feel guilt that I should move mountains to make the visit happen.

Has anyone had a trip back from UK and how was the experience?

Oh this sounds stressful! But, also stressful to cancel due to The Guilt.

My lot are in the frozen north, so it isn't as difficult. We are planning a trip home in August. I'm honestly not sure I'd plan it for May, but I am maybe overly cautious and my dad is quite a young grandpa, is fully vaccinated (doctor), and works in London sometimes, so chances are we'll see him here before we see him there iyswim. So less of a burden on us to go over.

A family member has been home a few times recently due to a bereavement. She gets tested 72 hrs before, isolates. Flies home, stays at the house. Gets another test 5 days later ( you can pick certain places to get this), then she can go out and about. She flies home but doesn't need to quarantine.

Yea Aer Lingus pulled that stunt on me. Had flight booked from Bristol to Dublin. They messaged to say they were changing the itinerary to fly from Heathrow!. This was impossible for me and I had to cancel.
In fairness they refunded the money without the type of fuss we can expect from "certain otherpeople"!!!

The negative PCR test is for entry into Ireland from anywhere outside the island of Ireland. There's no equivalent going back to Britain because the UK don't require it when coming from Ireland, for some reason.

You can't take public transport when you arrive either. If you don't have someone to pick you up or a hire car booked, then I think you're meant to get a taxi to wherever you're quarantining.

For the quarantine on arrival: even though it's at home / private residence (as opposed to hotel quarantine), it's still mandatory. No leaving for any reason bar emergency. But if you get a negative test again 5 days after arrival (going for this test is one of the reasons you're allowed leave the house) then you can end quarantine early... so you could be out and about by day 6.

Is your half-term 2 weeks long? Because if it's only a week, when it's hardly worth it... you'll have at best one day where you can see people.

We're trying to decide when to go back to see my partner's family - moved our flights from last autumn to this June.

We can't really stay in the family house for the quarantine - is it possible to book air BnB yet? We'll both have had our first vaccinations by then so I'm expecting to get the day 5 test and be fine.

Or is it just a question if wait and see

I've now moved my flights to the October half term - a full 2 years since I was last home 😞 but the logistics were frying my brain. Perhaps I'll just go myself in the summer without worrying about 6 hour border control queues at Heathrow with kids and funding multiple PCR tests 🤷‍♀️