Dublin racing driver Niall Murray is determined to race in next season’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda Championship even though he lost out in his bid to win a $200,000 scholarship for the series.

The world of wine is a large place and columns like this I hope help distil it down to a manageable size.

Irish rallying reaches a watershed this weekend with the Acesigns Signmakers Cork “20” International Rally that begins tomorrow.

A team of Spanish police experts flew to the French island of Corsica to retrieve a masterpiece by Pablo Picasso which was smuggled out of Spain.

Spanish police have sent a team of experts to the French island of Corsica to retrieve a Pablo Picasso painting owned by a Spanish banker.

Matching food and wine is an imprecise art at the best of times, says Leslie Williams.

Irish rally ace Keith Cronin is set to relaunch his World Rally Championship career behind the wheel of a Citroen DS3 R5 in the WRC2 category next season.

Beyonce and Jay Z have renewed their wedding vows in a "romantic" commitment ceremony, according to a report.

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TREASURES OF THE MED CRUISE

USA: It was a caffeine-charged Hollywood whodunnit:

Having announced on Twitter that his arm, which he broke on the Summer Lions rugby tour was “all good”, Munster legend Paul O’Connell’s bride-to-be can rest assured her giant hubby will be able to carry her over the threshold after they tie the knot today.

Chris Froome’s bid for Tour de France glory will get under way in earnest today as the race heads high into the Pyrenees.

Dan Martin says he's prepared for a big tilt at the Tour de France: “Last year I went in a bit more nervous but this year I’m ready to race really proactively. I know what to expect.”

Garmin-Sharp are keeping the peloton guessing ahead of the Tour de France, but it could be that an Irishman, rather than a Grand Tour winner, is the nominated leader.

Stephen Roche insists Bradley Wiggins is capable of replicating his 1987 feat of winning the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the same year.

The head of cycling’s governing body has been replaced on a key International Olympic Committee panel as he deals with the fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.

A man has been killed and several holiday homes attacked on Corsica ahead of the French island’s celebration of national identity.

The route for the 2013 Tour de France was announced yesterday and it will not lend itself to Bradley Wiggins staking a claim for consecutive wins.

Bradley Wiggins’ hopes of defending his Tour de France title were dealt a blow today after the details of the 2013 route were unveiled in Paris.

Derry has been named as one of the world’s best cities to visit in 2013.

Three people have been found shot dead in a car on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

A walker who came upon the aftermath of a massacre in the French Alps has likened the carnage to a horrific film scene.

JUST as paintings “go into a wall” over time, as their owners become so used to them that they hardly notice them any more, so a once-dominant feature of the Irish coastline has become almost invisible.

RAIN has been unusually reliable this summer.

SARDINIA and Corsica are physically similar.

IN June, I wrote about the Aran islands, and the extraordinary landscapes my wife and I encountered there.

The 2013 Tour de France – the 100th edition of cycling’s most prestigious race - will start in Corsica, event director Christian Prudhomme confirmed today.

Aston Villa will today step up their bid to secure Alex McLeish as their new manager.

ASTON VILLA were last night holding further talks with managerial target Alex McLeish.

Aston Villa were tonight holding further talks with managerial target Alex McLeish.

The father of the missing Swiss twins wrote to his estranged wife saying he had killed them and intended to kill himself, police have said.

The father of missing Swiss twins wrote a letter saying he had killed them, police say.

POLICE combed the area near the Swiss home of missing twin girls including a nearby lake yesterday, in a desperate three country search more than a week after they vanished with their now dead father.

Alicia Keys has given birth to her first child, a baby boy called Egypt.

William Buick came of age with a copy-book victory on Arctic Cosmos in the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster as a nationwide gamble on Rewilding bit the dust.

Arctic Cosmos floored hot favourite Rewilding to win the Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster.

SNOW FAIRY came out of her first defeat of the season in the Yorkshire Oaks in good heart – but no decision has yet been taken on whether she runs in the Ladbrokes St Leger.

ALICIA Keys and hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz married on the French island of Corsica on Saturday.

DICK Turpin looks set to sidestep a fourth clash with his stable companion Canford Cliffs in Wednesday’s Sussex Stakes at Goodwood due to the likely fast conditions.

Paris Hilton was briefly detained in Corsica after sniffer dogs detected a “quite small” quantity of marijuana in her bag, it was reported in France.

UNLESS the Irish summer surprises us all, there will be no warm-weather training camp for the boys in green this year.