Irish households are now 80% wealthier than they were at the low point of the recession.

IT MAY be the tail end of November but Christmas is about to arrive in Midleton, the town abuzz as crowds gather for the official lighting of the town’s yuletide illuminations.

Snooker player Stephen Lee has been fined £1,815 after admitting a charge of fraud relating to his personal cue.

Stephen Lee has been ordered to pay a total of £125,000 in costs after failing in his appeal to overturn a 12-year ban for match-fixing.

Stephen Lee has failed in his bid to overturn a 12-year ban for match-fixing.

Top snooker player Stephen Lee has been charged with fraud, police said.

Snooker’s disciplinary chiefs will be writing to Ronnie O’Sullivan asking for more information about his claim that he was offered a £20,000 bribe to fix a match.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has claimed he was offered £20,000 to fix a snooker match.

Stephen Lee believes he has “great grounds” for his appeal against his 12-year ban from snooker for match-fixing and will prove part of the case against him is “complete lies”.

Stephen Lee is to appeal his 12-year ban from snooker and the findings of a tribunal into match-fixing, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) have announced.

Stephen Lee is to appeal against his 12-year ban from snooker and the findings of a tribunal into match-fixing, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has announced.

“Hang on, what’s he played there?”

Stephen Lee has insisted he is innocent of match-fixing and said he will appeal against his 12-year ban.

Snooker’s leaders insist that Stephen Lee has been handed an effective lifetime ban after he was given a record 12-year suspension for seven charges of match-fixing.

Stephen Lee has been banned for 12 years after being found guilty of seven match-fixing charges, World Snooker has confirmed.

Stephen Lee will discover his punishment for match-fixing later today with the possibility he will be banned for life.

Chairman Barry Hearn has confirmed that World Snooker will be asking Ronnie O’Sullivan to name names following his match-fixing outburst on Twitter.

World champion Ronnie O’Sullivan does not believe Stephen Lee is the only snooker player guilty of match-fixing.

Stephen Lee faces a potential life ban from snooker after being found guilty of fixing seven matches.

Stephen Lee is facing a battle to save his career after the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association said he has "a case to answer" following a match-fixing investigation.

World number seven Stephen Lee has been suspended by snooker’s world governing body, the WPBSA, pending the results of a new probe into suspicious betting patterns.

Ronnie O’Sullivan turned the most keenly-anticipated first-round match at the Betfred.com World Championship into a procession as he surged 7-2 ahead of Peter Ebdon.

Stephen Maguire triumphed on a re-spotted black in the final frame to see off Ronnie O’Sullivan in the China Open quarter-finals in Beijing yesterday.

Stephen Maguire triumphed on a re-spotted black in the final frame to see off Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals the China Open in Beijing today.

Stephen Maguire triumphed on a re-spotted black in the final frame to see off Ronnie O'Sullivan at the China Open in Beijing today.

It’s been Ireland’s best kept sporting secret but from tomorrow through to Sunday, snooker’s version of the Champions League final takes place in Galway — and over 40 million people will tune in to watch it.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was in devastating form today as he crushed Joe Perry to stride into the PartyPoker.net German Masters quarter-finals.

DESPITE beating a hasty retreat following his surprise 4-1 defeat by Xiao Guadong at the PTC Snooker event in Killarney yesterday, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s recent comments about feeling ‘raped’ and ‘blackmailed’ into playing a lot of the World Snooker events at moment were a hot topic of conversation at the INEC.

Stephen Hendry was poised to lose his place in the world’s top 16 after defeat by Robert Milkins in the first round of the Shanghai Masters.

John Higgins hauled himself level at the mid-session interval of an arduous battle with Rory McLeod at the Betfred.com World Championship.

JOHN HIGGINS finished off Stephen Lee last night to pass his first test at the Betfred.com World Championship.

John Higgins finished off Stephen Lee tonight to pass his first test at the Betfred.com World Championship.

John Higgins began what could be an emotional journey to a fourth Crucible title with a hint of early anxiety followed by a masterclass this evening.

JOHN HIGGINS claimed Shaun Murphy was in the form of his life after the world number one was knocked out of the China Open at the quarter-final stage yesterday.

World number one John Higgins was knocked out of the China Open at the quarter-final stage this morning, falling to former world champion Shaun Murphy.

World champion Neil Robertson bowed out of the China Open to continue his poor run in the country.

Ronnie O'Sullivan cast fresh doubt over his snooker future after another dismal defeat at the Bank of Beijing China Open.

BARRY HEARN has vowed to do whatever it takes to avoid the “nightmare scenario” of another corruption scandal engulfing this year’s Betfred.com World Championship.

Barry Hearn has vowed to do whatever it takes to avoid the “nightmare scenario” of another corruption scandal engulfing this year’s Betfred.com World Championship.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins were today handed tough-looking first-round draws for this year’s Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.

Mark Selby gained a measure of revenge for his defeat to Mark Williams in last month's German Masters final as he knocked the Welshman out of the Partycasino.com Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Dublin last night.

Marcus Campbell came from behind to beat Stuart Bingham 4-3 in today’s last-16 clash at the Players Tour Championship Finals in Dublin to continue his good run of form.

Mark Williams cruised into the quarter-finals of the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals in Dublin with a 4-0 win over Anthony Hamilton.

Shaun Murphy came through his first test at the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals as he saw off Ricky Walden’s challenge in Dublin.

Marco Fu suffered a shock first-round defeat as the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals got under way in Dublin today.

Former Crucible runner-up Matthew Stevens booked a return to the World Snooker Championship with a nail-biting 10-9 victory over Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien in a match decided on the final black.

Six-time winner Steve Davis tonight failed to qualify for the World Championship after he was thrashed in the final round of qualifying by Stephen Lee.

Veteran Nigel Bond proved himself a champion sprinter as he triumphed at the Snooker Shoot-Out in Blackpool tonight.

John Higgins made a winning return to competitive action in Britain today with a 9-6 victory over Stephen Lee at the UK Championship in Telford.