Sumo Grand champion Hakuho displays the sumo’s ceremonial stamping form during the New Year’s ring entering ceremony by grand champions at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Here are the things we learned, loved and shared today.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#ABORTION: The Oireachtas has been hearing from medical experts all day on how Ireland should legislate or regulate for abortion following the ABC ruling. Our liveblog has followed the doctors, psychiatrists, obstetricians and other medical experts who have spoken – you can read what’s been happening here.

#GARDAÍ: The Department of Justice is set to reduce the amount of money available to pay Gardaí by €35 million – which means up to 1,400 Garda jobs are likely be cut from the force.

#BONDS: Ireland raised €2.5 billion in a short-notice bond auction today after strong investor demand led to more bonds than had been planned put up for sale.

#EU PRESIDENCY: A fleet of Audi A6 cars have been donated to the organisers of Ireland’s EU presidency to be used for airport runs for visiting Ministers, while the majority of delegates will either be making their own way to events or will be ferried by buses, a spokesperson for Ireland’s presidency has confirmed.

#UNEMPLOYMENT: Over 26 million people are now unemployed across the EU, according to the latest data from the European Union’s statistical organisation.

#SAUSAGES: Good news, meat-lovers: the famous Olhausen and Kearns sausages have returned to the shelves, three months after the company which made them closed down, after the brands were bought by a Monaghan-based meat company.

#DRAMA: Here’s what happened when Piers Morgan invited the man who created a petition to deport Morgan from the US on to his television show. Warning: it’s entertaining – but it devolves into a one-sided shouting match pretty quickly.

THINGS WE LOVED

(Image: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP/Press Association Images)

• For no reason, we love this image of Tom Cruise arriving in Tokyo earlier today.
• If we had a ‘Things We’re Unsure About’ section in the Fix, Tayto Chocolate would be top of the list.
• School science projects, especially when they involve setting fire to baking soda:

Naoise O’Driscoll and Claire Walsh from Loreto High School watch as Laura Meade and Ronan Bullar from the Science Museum in London set fire to baking soda at the launch of the 49th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in the RDS in Dublin today. (Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire/Press Association Images)

THINGS WE SHARED

(Image: Shaun Usher/Letters of Note – for a larger version, click here)

• For the day that’s in it: the above memo from Main Man to David Bowie and his band ahead of a 1972 tour notes that groupies should be sent home WITHOUT breakfast. Poor, hungry groupies.
• Over at The Guardian, Martin Hickes has found out how Monopoly boards were used to help prisoners-of-war escape from Nazi jails during World War II. A fascinating read, it reveals the practice of subbing tokens with pure-gold and hiding maps within the board itself.
• A video posted by Tom Fletcher (of British band McFly fame) has been shared quite a bit since the weekend but in case you missed it, this is how to do a wedding speech (even though he calls his sister-in-law hot):

(YouTube: Tom Fletcher)

- Additional reporting: Christine Bohan