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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. #BUDGET 2013: There is one story dominating the news this evening: Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin presented Budget 2013 to the Dáil chamber this afternoon, with details about the new property tax, cuts to child benefit and increases in cigarettes and alcohol. Here’s the main points you need to know, and here’s our liveblog which tracked all the announcements and reactions as they came in.  If you want to read exactly what the Ministers had to say, here’s Michael Noonan’s Budget speech in full and here’s what Brendan Howlin had to say to the Dáil.

2. #PRIMARY CARE: Two locations in Health Minister James Reilly’s constituency were only added to the list of primary care centres the night before the list was released the public, according to internal government documents released under the Freedom of Information Act. The list shows neither Swords nor Balbriggan were included in the list of 33 towns across the country.

3. #TOXIC: Eighteen people have fallen ill after a toxic gas leaked at Warrenpoint Harbour in Co Down. Nine people have been hospitalised while nine others were treated at the scene. Reports suggest  the leak came from a ship which was carrying a pesticide used to kill rodents.

4. #UNEMPLOYMENT: The number of people on the Live Register in November fell slightly by 1,500 people, bringing the standardised unemployment rate to 14.6 per cent.

5. #GENEROSITY: It’s the kind of windfall that most charities can only ever dream of: an anonymous donor has given €2.5 million to the Irish Cancer Society – the biggest single donation ever given to the charity. The donor gave the money on condition of remaining anonymous and the ICS has said they do not know if the donor had any connection with the charity. Aw.