EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five stories you really should check out before 5pm.

1. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS: Singer and former MEP Dana Rosemary Scallon has confirmed this afternoon that she is going to try and get a nomination to run for the Presidency this October. She said she wants Fianna Fáil to allow its members to vote for an independent and she will try to get her nomination by winning over 20 members of the Oireachtas.

2. #IN NUMBERS: Want to know exactly what money the State has in its trouser pocket? We’ve broken down the 2010 report of the Comptroller & Auditor General – the State’s accountant’s report – to show that €83.4m was overpaid in welfare, €10bn of our €22.7bn left in the National Pension Reserve Fund has been deposited in banks, and much, much more…

3. #CHILDREN: The Children’s Ombudsman has said that she is to seek a change to legislation so that she can deal with parents who have complaints about Special Needs Assistant allocations. Emily Logan also told TheJournal.ie that she wants to be able to deal with complaints from young children in St Patrick’s Institution, which is currently outside her remit.

4. #SEPARATED: Surgeons in a London’s children hospital say the operation to separate twin baby girls who were joined at the head from birth has been successful.

5. #BLUE MONDAY: Watch where you’re heading in the capital this evening – some roads around Merrion Square are blocked off to facilitate the celebration of the Dublin senior GAA footballers’ All-Ireland win. After a night out (some of it in Copper Face Jacks, as promised), some of the panel delighted children with the Sam Maguire at Crumlin Children’s Hospital today. See photos here.

The arrangements for tonight. We like the deadpan final sentence of the Garda notice to residents: