LAST UPDATE | 18 Jan 2021

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #CHILDHOOD: Some children in foster care have had less contact with their parents during the pandemic, with parents, social workers and foster carers experiencing additional stress last year.

2. #FSAI: The number of takeaways and restaurants shut down in Ireland fell significantly last year, with the hospitality sector closed down for much of 2020. 

3. #CORONAVIRUS: Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan reiterated the need for employers to facilitate remote working this week and said that no group of people “should feel the public health advice does not apply to them”. 

4. #POISONING: Police detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny yesterday when he flew back to Russia months after barely surviving a poisoning attack, prompting a new wave of condemnation.

5. #CORK: Gardaí investigating an aggravated burglary that occurred in Co Cork yesterday have arrested two people.

6. #CRIME: Gardaí seized over €1 million in cash after searches in north Dublin and Dublin city centre targeting a suspected organised crime group.

7. #VACCINES: The Health Minister is trying to secure an early delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Ireland to begin vaccinations as soon as the jab receives European approval.

8. #CERVICALCHECK: Here’s why CervicalCheck is using HPV tests instead of testing for all smear abnormalities. 

9. #CITIZENS: A new temporary system to allow people to complete citizenship applications by signing a statutory declaration has been set up.