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

IRELAND

A deserted Temple Bar on New Year's Eve 2020. Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

• Health officials reported 1,620 more cases of Covid-19 and 12 further deaths in Ireland.
• Close contacts of confirmed cases of Covid-19 will no longer be advised to get tested for the coronavirus due to current widespread levels of infection. 
• Health officials in Northern Ireland reported 1,929 more Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths. 
• From today, An Garda Síochána will be carrying out checkpoints within local areas as the country enters Level 5 restrictions again. 
• The family of George Nkencho who was shot dead by gardaí in Dublin yesterday appealed for people to not share footage of the incident online. Protesters also gathered in Blanchardstown over the incident. 
• A long-awaited report on transgender healthcare in Ireland was published by the HSE.
• A man in his 30s died after a car crash in Wexford this morning. 
• The Transport Minister Eamon Ryan signed an agreement to allow people holding a UK driving licence but living in Ireland to continue to be able to swap for an Irish licence after tonight. 
• The Taoiseach said the government will consider an extra Bank Holiday for 2021.

WORLD 

Frost covering a grassy bank in Bristol this morning. PA PA

#TRANSITION ENDED: Brexit becomes a reality tonight as Britain leaves Europe’s customs union and single market. 

#DEAL: Gibralter’s border with Spain will remain open following the end of the Brexit transition period after the UK and European Union agreed a draft deal. 

PARTING SHOT 

In an apt inclusion in tonight’s Parting Shot, President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina asked traditional folk singer Dan McCabe to perform The Parting Glass at Áras an Uachtaráin to mark the end of the year. 

It’s intended as a gesture to all those who have died or anyone who lost a loved one in 2020. 

The president said: “As we emerge from the year of Covid it is appropriate that we remember all those who have departed from us during the year, and those they have left behind and who did not have the opportunity of grieving for them in the way that is so traditional, and so central to Irish life.”

You can watch McCabe’s performance here. Happy New Year!