EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you really ought to know before you head out the door…

1. #BAILOUT The government of the day may have denied it right up until the end but a year on from the agreement of Ireland’s €85 billion bailout the deputy head of the IMF Ajai Chopra has revealed that discussions were taking place in the summer and autumn of 2010 over the possibility that Ireland would need assistance. Chopra will feature in a Prime Time Special on the bailout tonight.

2. #SHOOTING Gardaí have launched a murder inquiry after a man was shot dead on Cherry Orchard Avenue in west Dublin this morning. The man in his 30s was shot just before 7am this morning, gardaí say.

3. #EUROZONE Belgium has followed the lead of Italy and Germany in seeing its borrowing costs soar today amid growing fears over the stability and very future of the single currency. The Benelux country’s credit rating was downgraded last week as one ratings agency said today that all European nations are under threat of a credit downgrade. Gulp.

4. #DRUG TESTING The Minister for Transport has said that drug testing of motorists will begin early next year. Leo Varadkar said that drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs will be asked to perform roadside tests that will measure co-ordination abilities.

5. #CHRISTMAS Forgive us but Christmas isn’t really that far off and with it being ‘Mega Monday’ – the busiest day for online shopping over the Christmas period – we thought we’d find out how much it would cost to buy everything in ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, and here’s the answer…