The 5 at 5: Tuesday

EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five biggest stories of the day.

1. #SCHOOLS: Taoiseach Micheál Martin strongly indicated that schools will remain closed for January. Fianna Fáil’s official Twitter account also tweeted that schools would remain shut until the end of the month but the message was subsequently deleted.

2. #VACCINE ROLL OUT: Martin also said that up to 135,000 people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of February.

3. #EXCHEQUER RETURNS: The Department of Finance reported an overall deficit of €19 billion for 2020 but the government said it has the “firepower” to support the economy throughout 2021.

4. #CORONAVIRUS: The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 is close to the peak reached during the first wave of the pandemic.

5. #INAUGURATION: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said US President Donald Trump would not be allowed to visit Scotland to play golf to avoid the inauguration of his successor Joe Biden.