EVERY WEEKDAY evening, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you should know at 5pm.

#ECB Ireland’s plans to return to the bond markets when it exits its EU-IMF bailout programme have been given a significant boost, after the European Central Bank said it had agreed to begin a new programme of buying bonds from bailout countries.
#REPUTATION Despite the ongoing bailout programme, Ireland’s reputation is on the increase, says the G8 group of the world’s richest countries. Ireland is now ranked as the world’s 15th most reputable country.
#HOMELESSNESS 3,808 people are now homeless in Ireland, says the Central Statistics Office, in the first detailed count of how many homeless people there are in Ireland. 457 of them are under the age of 14
#PARADES The Royal Black Institution has apologised to a Catholic parish after playing music outside a catholic church, against the advice of the Parades Commission.
#POPEMOBILE And the pope is getting a new set of wheels. French car maker Renault is providing the pontiff with an electric popemobile that is silent and emits no pollutants whatsoever. Oh yea, except when you plug it in at night and leccie it up with that most non pollutant of things, a fossil fuel plant.

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More

The 5 at 5 Here are the five things you need to know as you head out of the office this afternoon.

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.