### Clue: Premier, ex-Labour leader, with a lot of Irish and Scottish celebrants? (5-7)
### Answer: FIRST-FOOTERS 
 ### Explanation: Definition: Scottish celebrants
 FIRST(premier;foremost) + FOOT(Michael, once leader of the British Labour Party) **plus**(with) ERS{"Erse", the Irish Gaelic language **minus ****its last letter**(a lot of)}.
Answer: Celebrants of the Scottish tradition of first-footing. The first person who steps across a home's threshold on New Year's Day (midnight on New Year's Eve) usually brings gifts representing good fortune. In some places, traditionally, the first-footer should be a dark-haired male, females and fair-haired males being regarded as unlucky (?). And of course, all this stepping is followed with a party.
** **2 Northern man keeping paintings and cross in $$portico$$ (7)
**NARTHEX** : {N(abbrev. for "northern") + HE(pronoun for a man)} **containing**(keeping) ART(which includes paintings) **plus**(and) X(alphabetical character for a cross).
Answer: The porch;portico;lobby at the entrance to a church furthest from the main altar.