Good morning

In the news today:

* A hospital chaplain has appealed for people to protect “our last line of defence, the NHS”. The Northern Ireland Executive will meet later today to discuss the mounting pressures on hospitals.

* The 2021 60th anniversary Tandragee 100 has been cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

* Congregations of the Free Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland have voted to suspend public worship in its churches with immediate effect.

* Northern Ireland Screen has said an ex-IRA would-be murderer had no hand in helping to secure funding for a new documentary on the life of Martin McGuinness.

* The PSNI conducted more than 7,500 patrols across Northern Ireland over Christmas - including 280 drink driving arrests.

* ‘Chemists ready and willing to hand out vaccines’. Julie Greenfield made the remarks to the News Letter yesterday after Gerard Greene, the head of Community Pharmacy NI, had made similar comments about pharmacists’ willingness to throw their weight behind the Province-wide roll out.

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Stay safe
Michael Cousins
Deputy digital editor