“I really hope my wife hasn’t gone into labour!”

The owners of Rocinante, a 17m long ketch, asking price €50,000, are a rum crew, with a story behind them, writes Damien Enright.

There will be more travel disruption tomorrow as French air traffic controllers continue their strike for a second day.

The holiday plans of thousands of people have been thrown into disarray after technical problems forced the cancellation of this weekend’s sailings of Brittany Ferries flagship Pont-Aven vessel between Cork and France.

I think the port of Calais is 32 miles from Dover. The migrants at Calais are relentlessly testing the boundaries (literally) of the Channel Tunnel and the Port of Calais.

Polish border guards have blocked entry into Poland for 10 Russian bikers who said they were following a path commemorating the Red Army victory’s over Nazi Germany 70 years ago.

A world champion kitesurfer who became the first person to kitesurf non-stop from France to Ireland at the weekend has now set his sights on an epic transatlantic crossing.

Francesco Totti made Serie A history last night as his first-half penalty in a 3-1 victory over 10-man Genoa saw the veteran striker become the league’s joint-second highest scorer of all time.

Today’s ferry service between Cork and Roscoff has been cancelled by Brittany Ferries after a French strike forced it to tie up its fleet until further notice.

A West Cork town opens its doors to the world this summer as famed Bantry Bay hosts a major international maritime event.

The conversation with Noel Connors of Waterford took an odd turn early on.

REAL MADRID slumped to their first defeat of the season after suffering a 1-0 setback at Levante last night.

A CHEMICAL tanker carrying thousands of tons of a gasoline product was being towed toward France’s northwestern coast yesterday after it collided with another ship, the boat’s manager and maritime officials said.

Some 86 cruise ships will sail into Dublin this year, giving the city a potential €55m boost, it was revealed today.

A plane slid off an icy runway and powerful winds and heavy snow forced hundreds of flight cancellations across Europe today as blasts of freezing cold buffeted Western Europe.

The missing cargo ship which reportedly sailed through the English Channel after it had been boarded by pirates, will only have enough fuel to last a few more days at sea, a maritime expert said today.

BARLOWORLD have been swift to distance themselves from the positive EPO test returned by their Spanish rider, Moises Duenas Nevado.

Clubs could face limits on the amount they spend on players’ salaries under proposals outlined to European ministers by UEFA president Michel Platini.

Mark Cavendish became the first Briton to win a stage of the Tour de France for five years with a brilliant sprint shoot-out on the fifth stage from Cholet to Chateauroux.

A man was forced to carry his disabled wife on to a plane in a fireman’s lift or let it leave without them, he said today.

Ryanair has announced 14 new routes across Europe to be launched in October.

Aer Arann’s new route to Brest is the second of four services to France flying from Cork Airport.

Ryanair has today announced three new routes from Dublin to Brest, Rodez and Tours starting from April 2008.

Ryanair has today launched its summer schedule totalling 40 million seats.

CROSSHAVEN and Cork bid ‘adieu’ to the 50 lionhearted Le Figaro sailors as they set off on the second leg of the race to Brest yesterday.

WRECKED.

I READ with sadness all the criticism of the new Cork airport in your letters columns recently.

Ryanair is temporarily suspending three existing routes to France for the winter months, from November to the end of February.

The husband of French actress Beatrice Dalle was on Wednesday jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of raping a woman and holding her prisoner in her own home for five days.

The ISEQ index of shares continued to make gains today as it added 44.61 points to close at 7104.92.

Ryanair rose 7c to €7.33 this morning folllowing their announcement of five new routes from the UK.

Low-budget airline Ryanair today announced 5 new routes from the UK.

Two flights chartered by the CIA made stopovers in France in 2002 and 2005, French newspaper Le Figaro said today, adding to likely questions facing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visits Europe next week.

SULTRY film star Beatrice Dalle, who shot to fame in her debut role in Betty Blue, has married an inmate in a discreet ceremony held in a Brittany prison.

Sultry film star Beatrice Dalle has married a prison inmate in western France, officials said today.

A POWERFUL storm packing hurricane-force winds lashed northern France yesterday, killing two people and forcing officials to close down the Eiffel Tower and the famed Paris parks.

The death toll in a powerful killer storm with hurricane-force winds in northern France tonight has risen to four tonight.

A powerful storm packing hurricane-force winds lashed northern France today, killing two people and forcing officials to close down the Eiffel Tower and the famed Paris parks.

Yachtsman Francis Joyon’s record-breaking solo round-the-world voyage in just 73 days was today hailed as “incredible” by the first person to sail the globe non-stop.

Irish low fares airline Ryanair today threatened to cut some under-performing new routes, leaving uncertainty hanging over holidays and second home owners in France.

A 22-year-old Irish man is en route to Brest for medical treatment after a fishing accident off the north west French coast.

THOUSANDS of air passengers are expected to be affected by the latest strike by French air traffic controllers today.

A rescue plan for loss-making low-cost airline Buzz was announced today – with 13 routes being saved but 440 jobs lost.

Unions reacted with fury and the threat of legal action today to news that 400 jobs and 12 routes are to be cut at budget airline Buzz.