LEADING Irish bookmakers chain Paddy Power is lining up further international expansion, with entry into the French market on the cards for the first half of next year.

BIG-TIME cycling returned to Irish streets and byways yesterday — and the public came out in their thousands to lap it up.

PHILIP DEIGNAN’S performances to date in the Tour of Germany would indicate he has hit form at precisely the right time in advance of the Tour of Ireland professional cycle race which gets underway with an exciting stage from Kilkenny to Cork tomorrow week.