January is the month many of us plan our summer holidays so this week I want to suggest two destinations with a wine focus.

Stephen Barrett will join the coaching staff of World Tour cycling team AG2R-La Mondiale for 2019. The Fermoy native will assume the role of Performance Scientist with the French squad while also continuing in his role as Strength and Conditioning coach for the Waterford senior hurling team.

Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic French fans celebrated the return of their World Cup winning football team yesterday, jumping and chanting “We are the champions” as their bus paraded down the Champs Elysees before a special presidential reception.

Amy Foster has equalled the Irish indoor 60m record to qualify for March’s World Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, writes Will Downing.

Ryanair has announced extra flights on 40 different routes from Cork, Dublin, Knock and Shannon airports for summer 2018.

Forensics officers have locked down a neighbourhood in western France, searching for traces of a family that disappeared, leaving behind a bloody mobile phone, stripped beds and a home where "time froze".

Passenger numbers at Cork Airport increased by 8% last year to just over 2.2m as new routes and airlines make their mark.

Dublin-based airline CityJet has revealed a 66% reduction in operating losses in 2015 over 2014 as it published results today.

Mourners are laying flowers and candles opposite the Bataclan concert hall ahead of a show by Sting to mark one year since the Paris terrorist attacks.

Anna O’Donoghue samples sun, sea and castles and the odd mechanical elephant on her visit to Nantes, and discovers how the Loire Valley’s cultural capital comes into full bloom in the summer months.

Plenty of reasons have been propounded for Dimitri Payet’s meteoric rise from international underachiever to France’s outstanding player at Euro 2016 — but the best words to explain it probably came from Didier Deschamps.

At the time of writing we are enjoying a bit of a heatwave but spare a thought for French winemakers who have once again been hit by late frosts and hail.

Cork Airport and business leaders have expressed disappointment after CityJet blamed lack of demand for its decision to axe its Cork to London City Airport service from June 26 after just eight months.

CityJet is to discontinue its service from Cork to London City Airport from June 26, just eight months after its launch.

Sweden’s national team are leaving nothing to chance when it comes to their efforts in getting out of Group E in the European Championship this summer.

AT Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, the objective is always to give every sick child every chance every time.

With the cloud over the nation’s finances for most of the last decade finally blowing over, many people are taking to the blue skies to once again enjoy a sun holiday.

Passenger numbers at Cork Airport are already soaring ahead of the launch of a new summer route to Madrid.

Fast-changing Nantes has transformed itself into a lively, buzzing, spacious city that sparkles with creativity and a strong Celtic-meets-Gallic culture, writes Conor Power.

CityJet has warned that all airlines flying to and from London City Airport are concerned over its sale to a Canadian consortium for £2bn (€2.58bn) and the potential cost increases the deal could bring.

CityJet has cast doubt on London City Airport’s long-term future should a mooted £2bn (€2.59bn) sale go through.

Dublin Airport has broken its previous passenger numbers in a single year, even with December traffic still to come.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Cork Airport is getting a €100,000 marketing boost after celebrating another string of route announcements yesterday.

The tide is turning at Cork Airport after CityJet announced a high-frequency service to London City Airport from October.

French President François Hollande revealed several plots have been foiled in France in recent weeks. However, despite efforts a devastating attack was still able to occur in the offices of the satirical publication.

Two rampaging drivers who injured a total of 23 people in nearly identical incidents in France were apparently mentally ill and the attacks are unlikely to be linked to terrorism, government officials have said.

Two rampaging drivers who injured a total of 23 people in nearly identical incidents in France were apparently mentally ill and the attacks are unlikely to be linked to terrorism, government officials said today.

Eleven people were hurt, five seriously, when a van drove into a Christmas market in France.

Youths clashed with police today in two French cities on the sidelines of demonstrations honouring a protester who was killed during a similar confrontation over a dam project last week.

Cork is bidding to be named European Green Capital 2017.

Cork will bid to be named the European Green Capital for 2017, when a submission is completed by the end of the month.

The biggest outdoor art event ever witnessed in this country takes its first, spectacular step today when a giant grandmother commences a three-day odyssey through the streets of Limerick.

A sensational Grandmother Giant will walk the streets of Limerick from Friday, writes Jo Kerrigan

SCHOOL’S out so many families will soon be packing up the car and driving to France to stay at camp-sites or perhaps rented gites.

Artistic endeavour is reaching such heights in Limerick that planning permission has been sought to make way for one tall event.

Limerick City will achieve a climactic cultural high when its headline event of the year Royal de Luxe presents ‘The Giant’s Journey’ for three whole days and nights on September 5-7.

I spent Thursday night in London, at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane, attending a testimonial dinner for Ronan O’Gara.