EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine stories that you need to know before  you start your day.

1. #HOUSEHOLD CHARGE: Just over half of the households expected to register or pay the household charge did so before last night’s deadline according to figures from the Local Government Management Agency. Around 805,000 households registered before the midnight deadline, well below the expectation that 1.6 million households would do so.

2. #ARD FHEIS: The Fine Gael Ard Fheis concluded at Dublin’s Convention Centre last night with a speech by Taoiseach and party leader Enda Kenny. In his first speech since becoming Taoiseach, Kenny promised action on the mortgage crisis, urged a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum and promised action to create employment in Ireland. He said: “We will not celebrate until Ireland has reason to celebrate.” Here’s the speech in full and how it unfolded.

3. #PROPERTY TAX: Though the controversy over the household charge shows no signs of abating, attention is already turning to the long-term graduated property tax which will be collected in a wholly different way to the household charge, according to the Sunday Business Post today. The paper reports that the tax is likely to be introduced next year with the review group currently examining implementation due to report by the end of the month.

4. #PLANNING INQUIRIES: The Sunday Times reports that the Department of Environment has found no evidence of corruption or maladministration in the seven local authorities that were identified for investigation over planning decisions. Environment Minister Phil Hogan was criticised for “arrogance” over the supposed shelving of the inquiries by the current administration last week but now it appears that no further investigation is likely.

5. #MORIARTY: The businessman Denis O’Brien has no plans to challenge the findings of the Moriarty Tribunal just over a year ago, a close advisor to the communications tycoon has told the Sunday Independent. Tom Lyons reports that the advisor has said that any challenge would be “futile”.

6. #IRISH BONDS: As Ireland seeks to get a better deal on its bank debt, negotiations could be hampered by news from Germany that its Central Bank has reportedly stopped accepting Irish government bonds as collateral when offered by its national banks. The news will have little practical implications but is a sign of a policy divide amongst Europe’s central banks.

7. #BURMA: High turnout has been reported in by-elections in Burma in which the Nobel Prize winning pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi is standing for political office for the first time. Her party is contesting all 45 seats in the vote which has so far gone peacefully, an indication that some EU sanctions against the Southeast Asian country could be lifted, BBC News reports.

8. #SYRIA: More than 70 foreign ministers from Western and Arab countries will meet in Turkey today to explore ways in which to step up pressure on the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. As 25 people were reported to have died in the latest violence in the city of Homs yesterday, an Irish journalist has written for TheJournal.ie about why it was just too dangerous to remain in the country.

9. #STOP PRESS: Finally, a special announcement about the future of TheJournal.ie. We’re taking a bold new step.