NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

• There were 61 deaths and 2,488 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed today. 
• The Coombe Hospital ordered an independent review after some family members of staff received a Covid-19 vaccine.
• The government went on the attack today after unions said they wouldn’t back plans to re-open schools for special education. 
• There was cake and champagne as Biden’s Irish ancestral homes celebrate inauguration.
• People in Dublin were asked to conserve water and check for leaks ahead of sub-zero temperatures.
• Judgement was reserved in the Gemma O’Doherty and John Waters court appeal. 
• The military is to be brought in to help medical staff cope with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland.
• The ‘Game-changer’ AstraZeneca vaccine will not land in Ireland before it is approved.
• Josepha Madigan withdrew ‘normal children’ comments but now faces fresh criticism for mother and baby home comparison.
• Local councils are to apologise for their involvement in Ireland’s mother and baby homes, a minister said.

INTERNATIONAL

Lady Gaga at the inauguration of 46th president of the United States Joe Biden Gripas Yuri / ABACA/PA Images Gripas Yuri / ABACA/PA Images / ABACA/PA Images

#MOMENTOUS DAY: Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.

#SPAIN: Three people have dead and several were injured as an explosion rocked a building in central Madrid.

#CORONAVIRUS: The UK recorded its deadliest day of Covid-19 amid a warning that hospitals are like a “war zone”. 

PARTING SHOT

After Joe Biden’s inauguration speech, we heard a poem from Amanda Gorman.

She became the youngest person to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration, and it’s well worth a listen.

Here's the full poem from Amanda Gorman, who is the youngest poet to ever read at an inauguration.

"Somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished." pic.twitter.com/0Hxeuqnt3d

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 20, 2021