EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the stories you need to know as you start your day.

1. #WEATHER: A status yellow snow-ice warning has been issued for the whole of Ireland.

2. #MAYO: The first of two funerals following the Christmas Day tragedy in which two young men died in Mayo is to be held today.

3. #ELECTION: Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell has insisted he plans to contest the presidential election near year.

4. #WELFARE CHEATS: Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty has said she won’t be running a ‘welfare cheats’ campaign in her new role.

5. #ABORTION: Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he will reflect on the Oireachtas committee’s call for terminations to be available for up to 12 weeks of a pregnancy.

6. #HOME AND AWAY: Australian actress Jessica Falkholt is in critical condition following a St Stephen’s Day crash, according to the BBC.

7. #SYRIA: The country’s government is allowing the evacuation of nearly 30 critically ill people from a besieged Damascus suburb.

8. #PENALTY POINTS: More than half a million people had penalty points on their driving licences this year.

9. #SAVE IT: A project to redevelop Newmarket Square in Dublin has been halted in a last-ditch attempt to save an old pub from being demolished.