EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1. #CERVICAL CHECK: Minister for Health Simon Harris was warned by a gynaecologist located in the Mid-West region that his announcement of free repeat smear tests was “dangerous” and put the CervicalCheck screening programme at risk.

2.#SYDNEY: Two Irishmen in their 20s have been charged with murder in Australia after a man who was assaulted prior to the New Year died in hospital yesterday.

3. #WEXFORD: A post-mortem is due to be carried out today on the skeletal remains of a woman discovered yesterday near Ferns, Co Wexford. 

4. # STRIKE: The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation will announce dates for strike action of its members at 3.30pm this afternoon. 

5. #FARMING: A total of 37 people were killed in work-related accidents during 2018, the lowest number since records began 30 years ago.

6. #BORDER WALL: US President Donald Trump is set to deliver a primetime address to the nation on immigration as he pushed for a showdown in his battle for a controversial US-Mexico border wall.

7. #WHIDDY ISLAND: A memorial event is being held in Bantry, Co Cork this morning to mark the 40th anniversary of the Whiddy Island disaster, also known as the Betelgeuse incident.

8. #HOMELESSNESS: The former chair of the Housing Agency Conor Skehan last night repeated his claim that homelessness is “normal” while appearing on RTÉ One’s Claire Byrne Live. 

9. #COSTA NOVEL: Irish author Sally Rooney has become the youngest ever winner of the Costa Novel Award for ‘Normal People’. 

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