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

1. #TROIKA: Brendan Howlin has told the Dáil that the European Commission, ECB and IMF had tried to get Ireland to commit to a €5bn sale of state assets during their last quarterly review of Ireland’s bailout programme. The comments came as officials from the three lenders arrived for the latest round of reviews.

2. #EUROZONE: Speaking of quarterly reviews, the latest review of Greece’s progress has seen the country secure the latest €8bn of bailout loans – which were urgently needed to stop the country from falling into default. The loans came with harsh words about the progress of its economic reforms, however.

3. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS: Martin McGuinness has said he cannot remember the wording of the oath he would have sworn when joining the Irish Republican Army – but insists the matter is “all history now”. “I was a very, very young man at the time,” he told Newstalk. Later, there was good news for Michael D Higgins who has topped a nationwide poll of students’ voting intentions.

The seven candidates are currently taking part in a live debate on Today FM – click here for our rolling liveblog with all the developments as they happen.

4. #WITH CHEESE PLEASE: The National Dairy Council has hit out at a proposed restriction in cheese advertising, saying it would give children and teenagers ‘mixed messages’ about the foodstuff.

5. #YETI: The abominable snowman is real after all! At least, that’s the claim of officials in the Russian area of Siberia, who believe they have discovered “indisputable proof” of its existence. Their proof? Markings found in the snow, which they believe were left by a yeti travelling across the frozen tundra.

We’ll have a live blog of events from the Aviva Stadium over at TheScore.ie shortly before kickoff at the Aviva Stadium, for the Republic of Ireland’s big match against Armenia. Best of luck, lads.