EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you head out the door.

1. #EUROPEAN UNION The International Peace Bureau has claimed the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to the European Union is “unlawful” because the bloc is not a “champion of peace” as defined by the will of prize founder Alfred Nobel. The IPB wrote an open letter to Sweden’s Nobel Foundation, asking for the prize to be withheld. However, the committee who chose the recipient rejected the claim and demand.

2. #AOIFE PHELAN Hundreds of people turned out to search for missing Laois woman Aoife Phelan in Ballyroan yesterday, including some of Aoife’s family members and friends. Aoife was last seen on 25 October when she left a friend’s house in Colliers View in Portlaoise.

3. #SEAN QUINN Motorists reported today that they had been verbally abused while driving through the town of Derrylin in Co Fermanagh, where a protest in support of Seán Quinn took place. Quinn was jailed for nine weeks last Friday. His Quinn company created thousands of jobs in Fermanagh during the boom.

4. #BULLYING The Children’s Ombudsman has recommended schools take more affirmative action on cyber-bullying. Emily Logan made the recommendation in her Bullying Report, for which she consulted with pupils. The report comes after two Irish teenagers who were bullied online took their own lives.

5. #SWAN STEALING Two men are reported to have been seen attempting to steal swans at the Claddagh in Galway city last night. The treasurer of the Galway and Claddagh Swan Rescue organisation said that the attempted theft may have been for their meat, as there is a market for swan meat in some countries. Swans are a protected species in Ireland.