Ryanair is putting on extra flights over the next three days to facilitate travellers affected by the French transport strikes.

Ryanair is putting on extra flights this weekend to compensate for tomorrow's cancellations as a result of strikes by French air traffic controllers.

British Prime Minister David Cameron ran into French opposition today in his bid to reach an EU summit deal on a major new trade accord with Pakistan.

MARK CAVENDISH won his third stage on the 2009 Tour de France yesterday, a 194.5-kms trek ridden at a leisurely pace in an implicit protest by the riders at a radio-ban by organisers.

The Tour de France resumes today, with the riders facing a 195km trek through the central part of the country from Limoges to Issoudun.

Five people were injured when a train hit a trailer filled with hay and derailed in central France, police said today.

THE European Union will be told by Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Brendan Smith at a special conference in Limoges, France, today that it must give direct financial support to the troubled sheep sector.

THE critical slump in EU sheep-meat production will be addressed at a conference today and tomorrow, in Limoges, in France, organised by Michel Barnier, the French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

RYANAIR chief executive Michael O’Leary has called for the disbanding of the National Consumer Agency saying the money to fund it would be better spent on schools and hospital beds rather than “employing those plonkers”.

A plane was forced to land when a passenger had an extreme allergic reaction to a leaking jar of mushroom soup, it was revealed today.

ONE of the passengers aboard the Ryanair holiday jet forced to make an emergency landing after a loss of cabin pressure has revealed how his fellow passengers feared for their lives.

AN investigation is under way to discover why a Ryanair plane lost cabin pressure on a holiday flight from Bristol to Girona that was diverted to Limoges in France and forced to make an emergency landing.

A Ryanair flight filled with British holidaymakers bound for Spain was forced to make an unscheduled landing following a loss of pressure in the cabin, the airline confirmed today.

FRANCE is to address key issues facing sheep farmers in Europe during its presidency of the European Union later this year.

Ryanair have announced five new routes from Brussels Charleroi to Bergerac, Limoges, Perpignan, Porto and Zaragoza.

HUNDREDS of mourners paid a final tribute yesterday to Marcel Marceau, the world-famous mime artist, who was buried in Paris.

Two people died and five were injured in a crash in central France between a bus carrying students and a car which was driving on the wrong side of the road.

The Irish Women’s Rugby Football Union (IWRFU) has welcomed the International Rugby Board’s confirmation of the introduction of the first Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament.

EDDIE O’Sullivan is hopeful Paul O’Connell can recover from a shoulder injury sustained against France on Saturday and will be fit for the clash with Wales on Sunday week.

IT’S like this: shoot yourself in the foot enough times, and you’ll eventually bleed to death.

WITH Limoges a prohibitive 400km south of Paris, there won’t be too many Irish fans at tonight’s ‘A’ international between France and Ireland (6.30pm).

Eddie O'Sullivan revealed blooding future Test prospects guided his selection for Ireland A's clash with their French counterparts in Limoges on Friday.

EVERY cloud has a silver lining but the old adage hardly looked appropriate on February 5th, 2000, after England had inflicted a humiliating 50-18 defeat on the Irish rugby team at Twickenham.

Ryanair today announced it is to set up its 12th European base at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport, with an investment of $240m (€184.1m) in four new Boeing 737-800 series aircraft.

ROBBIE McEWEN claimed the ninth stage of the Tour de France by a whisker in the closest finish of the Tour so far.

Robbie McEwen claimed the ninth stage of the Tour de France by a whisker in the closest finish of this year’s Tour so far.

French police arrested at least eight people suspected of belonging to the outlawed Basque terror group ETA, picking them up today in three regions far from their traditional haunts.

A massive inspection of the French rail network was getting under way today after a railway worker found a bomb with seven detonators buried in the bed of a commuter line between France and Switzerland.

A BOMB was discovered yesterday buried on a French rail line leading to Switzerland.

A bomb was discovered today buried on a French rail line leading to Switzerland.

FRANCE last night said it has received threats of a possible attack against French interests from an Islamist group apparently named after a Chechen guerrilla killed in a Moscow hostage-taking in 2002.

A PREVIOUSLY unknown terror group is threatening to blow up French railway tracks unless it is paid millions of euro.

A previously unknown terror group is threatening to blow up French railway tracks unless it is paid millions of euro.

OUTSTANDING performances by both sides in their opening games has set up a cracking Six Nations U21 clash between Ireland and Wales at Galway Sportsground this afternoon, (2.30pm).

Irish U21 coach Mark McCall and his management team are hoping for a big crowd in Galway this Friday as they today named an unchanged side to take on Wales U 21 in the Sportsground at 2.30pm.

French doctors were taken aback when they discovered the reason for a patient’s sore, swollen stomach: he had swallowed around 350 coins with assorted necklaces and needles.

Ireland’s youngsters escaped with a draw in Limoges last night after Regis Lespinas missed a conversion with 10 minutes to go which would have clinched victory for the hosts.

Six Nations U21 result:

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

Fears are high Ryanair will scrap several routes operated by Buzz, the airline it is set to take over.

Two passenger trains collided in south-western France after one of the trains derailed when it hit a crane that had fallen on to the tracks from a nearby construction site, police said.