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GOOD EVENING

The 5 at 5 5 minutes, 5 stories, 5 o’clock…

EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you head out the door.

1. #ABORTION: New Zealand Professor David Fergusson, whose work has been used by pro-life groups to contend that abortion holds no mental health benefits for pregnant women, has said that his research is too limited to make any definitive conclusions. Fergusson, who works in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago in Christchurch, said that while his research showed there was no evidence that abortion mitigated mental health risks in women, it was based upon “limited research”.

2. #ROADS: A man has died after his car hit a bus on the Ballybofey to Donegal Road at around 8.30am this morning. The man in his 50s, who was the sole occupant, was fatally injured when his car hit a bus near Barnesmore Gap. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A passenger on the bus was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital with what are described as minor injuries.

3. #JOBS: There was relief on the jobs front today as two retail chains successfully exited from examinership. 137 jobs were saved when 12 out of 24 Pamela Scott shops exited the process, with around 65 per cent of its upward only rent clauses replaced with more flexible terms. Separately, over 600 jobs were saved after the High Court approved an examiner’s recommendations for B&Q Ireland to continue trading at its eight stores across the country.

4. #CHILDREN IN CARE: The Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, has called on the Government to keep records of the educational experiences for children in care. Her call follows today’s publication of the study: Education of Children in Care in Ireland: An Exploratory Study, which showed that children in care faced significant challenges, including attitudinal barriers, placement breakdowns, inadequate care planning and review, and shortfalls and delays in assessment. These issues had resulted in children in care running a higher risk of suspension, exclusion, absenteeism and early school leaving.

5. #SUPREME COURT: Two additional judges are to be appointed to the Supreme Court in an attempt to deal with the significant backlog of cases in the highest court in the State. The two new judges will see the number of Supreme Court judges increase to nine, and will each earn an annual salary of €197,272. The average delay for non-priority cases before the current seven-member Supreme Court is now around four years.