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

IRELAND

St Bridget's Well at the Curragh Plains, Co Kildare. Photo shows people taking advantage of the blue skies at St Bridget’s Well (Loughminane / Loch Leamnachta). Legend has it that when 18 bishops visited, St Brigid prayed for more milk, and an angel blessed her cattle with so much that it overflowed from the tubs they had brought, and created the lake. Source: Eamonn Farrell

• Education Minister Norma Foley has indicated to Cabinet that schools across the country could return on a phased basis next month
• The HSE changed the location of a mass vaccination centre in Carlow, after a number of venues said they didn’t receive confirmation that the deal was finalised
• The Finance Minister is “looking at ways” to keep money saved by people during pandemic in Ireland, but said people are likely to spend it on holidays abroad
• A mother and baby home survivor has been told to contact police in England about the destruction of the audio recording of the testimony she gave to the Commission
• Meanwhile, Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the recordings of testimony destroyed by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission cannot be retrieved
• Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson has said she was “horribly tricked” over a photo taken of her with the daughter of Dubai’s ruler
• The Vice-President of the European Commission told TDs and Senators that “mistakes were made” by the EU regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol
• There have been 33 deaths and a further 744 new Covid cases confirmed in Ireland.

WORLD

Stonemasons James Preston and John Fowler from SSH Conservation survey Kirby Hall in Corby, Northamptonshire. Source: PA

#ANOTHER VACCINE: The European Medicines Agency has announced that pharmaceutical firm Janssen has applied for conditional authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine.

#INDIA: Scientists are baffled by the relatively low rate of coronavirus infections in India after at one point it looked as though it might surpass the US as the country with the biggest case toll.

#MEDEA: Three people died in Greece today after heavy snowfall not seen in more than a decade fell and gale-force winds hit, disrupting road and sea transport as well as halting Covid vaccinations in Athens.

PARTING SHOT

Some good, happy news: this Waterford great-grandmother got her vaccine today, and is delighted about it.

Waterford great-grandmother Margaret Power has become one of the first people over the age of 85 in Ireland to receive the Covid jab in the community. “It’s a great feeling,” she said. pic.twitter.com/ObjiDKOk10

— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) February 16, 2021