Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really need to know by 9am.

1. # BURMA: Yesterday, Burma’s pro-democracy figurehead Aung Sang Suu Kyi was released from detention by the military leaders of the country. Suu Kyi had spend 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest in her house in Rangoon.

RTÉ reports that the Nobel Prize Winner addressed a crowd of supporters outside the headquarters of her now-defunct National League for Democracy party, saying:

I do not have any antagonism toward the people who kept me under house arrest…the security officials treated me well. I want to ask them (the junta) to treat the people well also… I am willing to work hand in hand with other democratic forces in the country.

2. # ANGER: Taoiseach Brian Cowen is reportedly ‘furious’ over claims by the BBC that Ireland has entered preliminary talks for an EU bailout, the Sunday Independent reports.

Government spokespeople have reiterated that the country is not seeking financial support and told the Independent that they are “baffled” at reports to the contrary.

3. # BAILOUT? Despite the government’s assurances, pressure is nevertheless said to be mounting on Ireland to join the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

Uncertainty over the the country’s solvency pushed up the cost of borrowing for both Ireland and other eurozone countries last week, prompting government officials to believe there is a “definite agenda” in forcing Ireland to avail of EFSF funds in order to prevent bailouts in Italy, Spain and Portugal, the Sunday Times reports.

4. # POLITICS: Gerry Adams is expected to announce his intention to run as Sinn Féin’s candidate in the Louth constituency for the next general election.

Last week, Arthur Morgan – Sinn Féin’s sitting TD in the Louth constituency – announced that he would be stepping down at the next election.

5. # SKILLS: Leaving Cert students pay attention: Ireland faces an IT skills shortage and salaries in some technology and software companies are jumping by up to 15 per cent in an attempt to attract talent, reports the Sunday Business Post.

Irish-based firms are reportedly seeking staff from abroad because of the lack of indigenous skills, which Labour TD Ruairi Quinn has blamed on maths not being taught properly in schools: “As a result, you don’t have the skills that your companies require”, he said at the Software Awards in Dublin last Friday.

6. # NAMA: The agency is set to move on more properties early this week. Nama is also said to be “getting its ducks in a row” for legal proceedings against a number of companies, according to the Sunday Business Post.

7. # SEX OFFENDERS: The laws surrounding the movement of newly-released sex offenders in Ireland is set to be changed, the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has confirmed.

The Irish Sunday Mirror reports that released criminals will soon need to formally register a plan to move home within three days with the gardaí, in contrast to the current system of seven days. The new timeframe would be in line with the UK, and authorities hope to prevent potentially dangerous ex-prisoners from taking advantage of differing laws by crossing the border.

8. # US-ISRAEL: The United States has offered a package of security incentives to the Israeli government in exchange for the country a 90-day freeze on settlement construction on the West Bank and a reentering of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Peace talks broke down on 2 September after a settlement freeze ran out and was not renewed.

9. # IT COULD BE HIM… Eamon Dunphy came up with the idea for the National Lottery, apparently. The football analyst said in an interview with the Sunday Times that he first presented the idea of using a weekly draw as a government funding initiative to Garret Fitzgerald – who seemed to back up Dunphy’s story last week.

Dunphy also says that he coined Fine Gael’s slogan The Courage to Succeed, which helped Fitzgerald to be reinstated as taoiseach in 1977.