EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five biggest stories of the day.

1. #SCHOOLS: Education Minister Norma Foley has responded to criticism over the lack of clarity in relation to the plan to reopen schools for primary and secondary students, saying “clarity takes time“.

2. #LISA SMITH: Alleged member of the so-called Islamic State Lisa Smith is facing an additional charge of terrorist financing, a court has heard.

3. #COVID-19: Ireland’s R number has fallen to between 0.7 and 1.4 with the “best estimate” standing at 1.1, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.

4. #JAIL: Derek Devoy, a gangland criminal who “ran amok” with a loaded machine gun in a “densely populated suburban area” before ending up in a bathtub with three unarmed gardai as they struggled to arrest him, has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 15 years.

5. #SUPER JUNIOR: Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath “didn’t recall” his party, Fianna Fáil, trying to block top-up payments for a third ‘super junior minister’ in 2017.

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