NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

Sam Boal Sam Boal

• Ulster Bank today announced that they would begin a “phased withdrawal” from Irish markets over the next several years.
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the move by Ulster Bank to exit Irish markets was “not good news for Ireland“.
• No major easing of Covid-19 restrictions beyond the reopening of schools is expected until May.
• In an interview with TheJournal.ie, the Taoiseach has said that the impact of school reopenings will be closely monitored and will inform decisions around restrictions
• Dr Emer Holohan, the wife of the Chief Medical Officer, has died.
• 28 deaths and 763 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Ireland today, according to NPHET.
• Gardaí have issued over 7,950 fines for breaches of Covid-19 restrictions, a majority of which are for non-essential travel
• Children’s Minister says that it *may* be possible for the Mother and Baby Homes Commission to retrieve back-up recordings of witness testimony.
• Dublin Airport passenger numbers declined by 78% to 7.4 million last year, with half travelling during the first two months of 2020.

INTERNATIONAL

AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

#COVAX The EU is set to double its funding to the COVAX programme, to €1 billion. US President Joe Biden is expected to pledge €4 billion to the programme.

#PFIZER An Israeli study has found that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is up to 85% effective after just one dose

#HARRY & MEGHAN have confirmed that they will not be returning as working members of the Royal Family, Buckingham Palace announced earlier today.

PARTING SHOT

With NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully landing on Mars yesterday, the space agency has started to share photos of the red planet.

Hello, world. My first look at my forever home. #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/dkM9jE9I6X

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021

You’ll be able to keep track of the rover and its movements on this website, where you can follow along as Perseverance travels across the red planet.