EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you head out the door.

1. #UNEMPLOYMENT: Ireland’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 14.6 per cent, despite a slight drop in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in December. The number of people aged 25 and under signing on decreased for the 29th month in a row, which SIPTU has said is due to high levels of emigration.

2. #FLAGS: A leading loyalist activist has said he plans to organise a protest in Dublin outside Leinster House over the ongoing unrest in Northern Ireland over the flying of the Union flag over government buildings. Willie Frazer says he expects 150 people to take part in the protest on Saturday 12 January, RTE reports.

3. #PENSIONS: New TDs and Senators will be asked to make pension contributions worth over twice as much as their counterparts currently do under new legislation on public sector pensions enacted yesterday. The law will see TDs, Senators and other major public office holders contributing 13 per cent of their salary towards their pension as opposed to the current 6 per cent.

4. #RIP: A passenger on board a Ryanair plane flying to Dublin died during the flight this morning. The 65-year-old passenger, who was an Irish citizen, had been returning from the Portuguese city of Faro when he became ill on board the flight. Ryanair confirmed the passenger had received medical assistance before he passed away suddenly.

5. #LINKING: National Newspapers of Ireland, the body representing national and regional newspapers in Ireland, has said it has no objections to newspaper content being linked to for personal use, but has reiterated its suggestion that links to Irish newspapers are a breach of copyright. Read this column by solicitor Simon McGarr for the background about this –  and why it matters.