EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you really should know before heading out the door…

1. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS: Earlier this afternoon, RTÉ’s Liveline played a tape of a 2002 interview between presidential candidate David Norris and journalist Helen Lucy Burke.

The interview was the basis of some recent controversy surrounding Norris – specifically in reference to comments he made about paedophilia.

A spokesperson for Norris today told TheJournal.ie that there had been a “concerted effort by people that don’t want David Norris… to be president of Ireland” to smear him.

2. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS: With less than a week to polling day, TheJournal.ie brings you a series of quickfire quizzes with the Presidential candidates: we questioned the hopefuls on some trivia, some pop culture – and on an issue that has dominated each of their campaigns.

Dana Rosemary Scallon has so far declined an interview.

3. #TRIAL: Irishman Michael Campbell has been found guilty of attempting to buy arms for the Real IRA by a Lithuanian court and sentenced to 12 years in jail.

The 38-year-old, from Dundalk in Co Louth, was arrested in 2008 as part of an international sting operation co-ordinated by MI5 and Lithuanian intelligence aimed at incapacitating the Real IRA. He had denied the charges, claiming he was framed by British intelligence services.

4. #SPACE: A Russian rocket, the first of two operational satellites to be sent into space under Europe’s Galileo programme, has been launched today - kicking off Europe’s space ambitions. It is hoped that the global satellite navigation system could become a rival to the ubiquitous American GPS network.

5. #JAILBIRDS: Curious about what kind of jailbirds could be nestling in your family tree?

Well, now you can discover what skallywags are lurking in your past by accessing the Irish prison registers 1790-1920 online.