EVERY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you a roundup of the day’s main news – as well as any bits and pieces you may have missed…

On the release of TDs’ expenses:

• One in every five TDs claimed more than €50,000 in expenses during 2011. Here’s our table of the biggest claimants – and some reasons why they might be that way.
• We’ve put together a detailed breakdown of how TDs negotiate the expenses labyrinth. The majority of them get between €10,000 and €50,000.
• And finally, there is one – that’s one – TD in Ireland who claims no expenses whatsoever. Let’s meet him.

In the day’s other news:

• Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has criticised lavish spending on communions – as the Government slashes the amount families can claim for the ceremony. Previously an allowance of up to €305 was on offer.
• ‘Magda’, the Polish woman whose story of existence on the dole sparked furious controversy yesterday has come forward, saying media portrayals of her life were “completely not true”. Meanwhile, a Labour senator has apologised for his remarks on Twitter following the controversy.
• And writing for TheJournal.ie, adoptive Dubliner Anna Pas describes the undercurrents of “indirect xenophobia” that come with being Polish in recession-era Ireland.
• It’s emerged the 36-year-old man shot dead at a pub in Finglas early this morning was the brother of another murder victim, killed in the same area in 2009.
• An awful lot of Irish adults listen to the radio every day. Here’s our breakdown of what they’re listening to and where.

Neville Smith, a model maker at Legoland Windsor, puts the finishing touches to a model on the wall in one of the bedrooms at the resort’s new hotel (Steve Parsons/PA Wire)

• Facebook made its long-anticipated huge IPO last night, hoping to raise €5billion. But did you know Mark Zuckerberg spent $800,000 on aeroplanes last year? Here’s that and nine other things we learned…
• There’s gold in them thar hills. Specifically, the ones on the Wicklow-Wexford border.
• Around 11,000 people are trapped in Serbia after blizzards left 6,500 homes in remote areas completely cut off. Emergency crews are struggling to press through to reach them.
• Meet the Galway man who’s attempting to run seven marathons, on seven continents… in five days.
• Forty homes a day had their electricity cut off over unpaid bills last year, new figures from the energy regulator reveal. That’s a significant increase on 2010.
• The capsized Costa Concordia contains a treasure trove of cash, jewellery, works of art and other valuables – and profit-minded divers are eyeing their chances. So what exactly is on board?
• And finally, a little music to round off your Thursday. We think you’ll agree that this makes a ravishing duet.

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