EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of the day’s biggest stories as well as the bits and pieces you may have missed.

• In a TheJournal.ie exclusive, an MEP on the European Parliament committee responsible for appointing nominees to the European Court of Auditors has said that he felt “sympathy” for Eoin O’Shea after receiving an email from him.

• Planning on going to watch Ireland in Euro 2012? You’ll want to read this – the FAI has released details on how you can apply for tickets.

• RTÉ is going to repeat its apology to Kevin Reynolds tonight after viewers complained about the quality of the initial apology.

• A trained garda negotiator was called to Drogheda Courthouse this afternoon when six prisoners barricaded themselves into a holding cell. The stand-off, which lasted over two hours, ended when the prisoners voluntarily left the room.

• Is this ad ruining Christmas for children? The advertising watchdog in Britain has received almost 500 complaints from angry parents who say that this ad from Littlewoods ruins the big Christmas secret for kids. What do you think? Is it that bad?

• Finance Minister Michael Noonan has admitted that his proposal to raise VAT by two per cent in the forthcoming Budget – which will raise VAT from 21 to 23 per cent – did not account for any impact on consumer demand.

• If you’re scared of heights you may want to skip this next one – but for everyone else, have a look at this amazing first-hand video of a man jumping off a giant building:

• An Post has released three stamps with the faces of well-known RTE personalities on them – Gay Byrne, Anne Doyle and Emma O’Driscoll – but who’s missing? We asked you to vote in our poll for who you’d like to see on a stamp – and the results are slightly unexpected. Have you voted yet?

• Syria is expected to face economic sanctions from the Arab League after Assad’s government missed today’s deadline to sign up to a protocol which would have allowed humans rights observers into the country.

• The high cost of renting is costing Irish jobs, retail owners have warned.

• The new Q has been unveiled for the next Bond film – and it’s a bit of a surprising choice.

• And speaking of new jobs, the Irish Daily Star has a new editor. Michael O’Kane, the current Deputy Editor of News will take over from Ger Colleran.

• A TD has described FAI Chief Executive John Delaney’s salary as ‘obscene’.  People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said Delaney’s salary was symptomatic of what’s wrong with Ireland today.

• Feeling a bit stressed? Need a moment of zen? Check out this great picture of Wexford quayside taken today by TheJournal.ie reader Tom Harpur. And don’t forget, if you ever have a pic, video or news tip you think we should see, drop us a line at tips@thejournal.ie. We do love to hear from you lot…

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