EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you need to know before 5 o’clock…

1. #WEATHER: Met Eireann has issued a weather warning this evening with extremely strong winds battering large parts of the country. Around 7,000 homes are still without electricity after overnight winds brought down power lines and disrupted services.

2. #PARDON: Alan Shatter is considering a pardon for Irish soldiers who were persecuted for joining the Allies in the fight against Hitler.  An estimated 5,000 men deserted the Irish Defence Forces during World War II to help the Allies in the fight against Nazi Germany.

3. #CLAMPS COME OFF: Twelve people are to be made redundant as clamping comes to an end in Cork city tomorrow. Parking restrictions are still going to be policed though.

4. #LAWRENCE: Two men have been found guilty of the racially-motivated murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993. The long-running investigation into the 18-year-old’s death exposed institutional racism in the London Metropolitan police and was a trigger for major legal change in Britain.

5. #HISTORY: What was it like to take part in the 1916 Rising or the War of Independence? A new website run by the Defence Forces is going to post up valuable archives over the next few weeks, including first-hand accounts, of the turbulent period from 1913 to 1921.