Hours after DUP brief that they will veto Irish languag e act, party U-turns in face of pressure from Sinn Féin

Good morning,
Today is an auspicious day. It's exactly one year since the UK first entered national lockdown.
It's been a year like no other as Northern Ireland (and the world) ground to halt in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus. The past year has seen dramatic shifts in how we live our lives. Businesses have been forced to close, schools shut, workers sent home and the most vulnerable forced to shield themselves from the rest of the population.
Many of our readers have suffered but the future looks much brighter as the vaccine rollout continues at pace.
We've been with you through it all. Explaining every lockdown restriction, reporting on Covid-19 developments, telling your stories and helping you make sense of a new and often frightening world.
As we come out out of this lockdown we will continue to be there for our readers, after all, you're the reason we are here.
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Michael Cousins
Deputy digital editor