EVERY WEEKDAY evening, TheJournal.ie brings you the five things you should know by 5pm.

1. #ECONOMY: The IMF’s latest report on Ireland has warned that the state’s economy faces more significant ongoing challenges than had been anticipated when the bailout was agreed. The report says that the the country’s prospects for growth have deteriorated and that banks will find it tough to sell off their assets and reduce their operations as planned.

2. #NO SILVER BULLET: Meanwhile, Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield has warned that there are no easy solutions to Ireland’s mortgage arrears problems, and that the situation won’t be resolved for “many years”. Elderfield told Harvard Business School today that the Central Bank expects the number of homeowners in arrears to increase throughout 2012.

3. #IAN BAILEY: Minister for Justice Alan Shatter says that the Garda Ombudsman is investigating complaints from Ian Bailey regarding documentation from the DPP which is believed to outline the prosecutor’s reasons for not pursuing a case against Bailey over the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

4. #GIGGS: Ryan Giggs has lost his claim for damages against the Sun newspaper. The soccer star launched proceedings after the newspaper published an article about an alleged affair involving Giggs.

5. #FRIDAY FEELING: It’s Friday and spring is in the air. We’re celebrating by dedicating this week’s cute animal slideshow to lots of lovely lambs.