The EU Commission has apologised for the major diplomatic row it caused last month over the Irish border, admitting a mistake was made and is “deeply regretted”. Speaking to the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee on Tuesday morning, EU vice president Maroš Šefčovič made clear that the move to trigger Article 16 of the protocol, which would have stopped the importation of vaccines into the North, was driven by a “lack of transparency” as to where EU-made vaccines were going.

More than two in five people diagnosed with cancer are of working age highlighting the need for better employer and government supports to enable them to return to work, the Irish Cancer Society has said. This comes as almost half of cancer patients returning to work feel their diagnosis has had a negative impact on their career, according to a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

The single-dose Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine should be available in Ireland by April and will be a game-changer in the plan to vaccinate the entire population, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said. As the number of deaths in the State from Covid-19 looks set to surpass 4,000 this week, the Taoiseach's statements on Tuesday night set out to give a positive message on the impact of new vaccination supplies.

Parents of children returning to school will be asked to sign declaration forms stating that they have no reason to believe their child has an infectious disease such as Covid-19. It is one of a number of new safety measures contained in a draft framework for reopening schools in light of the greater infection threat posed by the new UK variant.

A Cabinet sub-committee on Education is set to meet later today with hopes that plans for the Leaving Cert could be outlined. A statement is expected from Minister for Education Norma Foley following the meeting with an expectation that she will speak to the situation with regards to the State Exams. 

Coillte has revealed that visitor numbers to its forests increased by almost 40% during the Covid-19 pandemic, as it unveiled Ireland's ten most popular forests for 2020. Figures released by the State-owned forestry company show that 2.2 million people visited the country’s most popular forests from the beginning of March.

And finally, today’s zen marks the start of soul singer Duffy’s five week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart in 2008 with 'Mercy', which later turned into UK'S best selling single of that year, and also won the Welsh singer a Grammy. A bit of soul music for a midweek pick-up. Enjoy!