Shutterstock / Erik Lam Shutterstock / Erik Lam / Erik Lam

EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, The Journal brings you the five biggest stories of the day.

1. #INDOOR DINING: Measures such as antigen testing and ventilation will be looked at by the government in a bid to get indoor hospitality reopened, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. NPHET has recommended that only vaccinated people should be allowed to dine indoors or enjoy any indoor activity.

2. #BREXIT: The UK and the EU have agreed to extend a grace period allowing chilled meats to be sent from Great Britain to Northern Ireland until 30 September. A number of other decisions have also been made in relation to the Protocol – for example, drivers travelling between NI and GB will no longer need an insurance green card.

3. #FRAUD: There has been an almost three-fold increase in the number of Bank of Ireland customers targeted by fraudsters compared to this time last year. BOI said the number of new phishing websites detected by its fraud prevention team has doubled since last month, with an “unprecedented increase in activity” over the past week.

4. #EXAMS: The Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams next year will also incorporate additional choice for students to account for the disruption faced by students due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For this year’s State exams, the format of the written exams was adjusted to provide additional choice to students. The Department of Education said today that the changes to the 2022 exams will be “similar”.

5. #BLOOD SHORTAGE: The Irish Blood Transfusion Service is today importing a bulk consignment of blood from the UK for the first time since the late 1990s due to a current shortage in supply. 115 units of Rh negative blood groups – O negative, A negative and B negative – are being collected from the NHS Blood and Transplant in Manchester.