NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

Crowds at Poolbeg Lighthouse in Dublin RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• Health officials confirmed a record 1,296 new cases of Covid-19.
• The first delivery of a vaccine against Covid-19 arrived into the country.
• Meanwhile, health officials in Northern Ireland confirmed a further 20 deaths and almost 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 over the past two days.
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he hoped to see a return to a “degree of normality” by next summer.
• Storm Bella passed over the country.
• Childline revealed that over 700 children and young people contacted the charity on Christmas Day.
• New figures showed that more than half a million motorists had penalty points on their driving licences this year.

INTERNATIONAL

Flood water surrounds The Barn Hotel in Bedford, UK PA PA

#BREXIT: The EU and the UK jointly published the full text of their post-Brexit trade agreement.

#CORONAVIRUS: France and Spain both confirmed their first cases of the new Covid-19 variant that recently emerged in Britain

#US: Joe Biden warned Donald Trump of “devastating consequences” if the president continues to delay signing a Covid-19 economic relief bill passed by Congress.

#NASHVILLE: Police in the US confirmed they had found possible human remains near the site of an explosion in Tennessee yesterday.

PARTING SHOT

It’s been a year of doom and gloom, with many searching online for levity in one form of another, usually via their social media feeds.

And during 2020, Irish language broadcaster TG4 stepped up to the plate and gave them what they were looking for by taking a refreshing approach to its social media presence: having the craic.

As part of our round-up of the year, the broadcaster’s social media team talked about everything from how it’s become so popular to the identity of the famous ‘intern’.

Read about it here.