Tonight Guns N’ Roses will once again take to the stage at the O2 in Dublin. May 17th  marks their fourth show in Ireland. Lead singer Axl Rose suffered an injury after his second show in Russia last Saturday night. The multi award winning band will be supported by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy.

A source close to the band said: “Axl needed medical attention for a nasty leg injury and was unable to fly with the rest of the band.” Rose will need to recover fast as the tour continues onwards to Nottingham, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester and London across the next two weeks.

This Saturday is the Heineken Cup final, which takes place this year in Twickenham Stadium in London and will see two Irish Rugby Team’s battle it out for the honour to be Heineken Cup Final Winners.

Kick off is at 5pm and all eyes from the world of rugby will be on Ireland’s teams: Leinster and Ulster. The final is a match that all players want to compete in, including Ireland and Leinster Centre Brian O’Driscoll who is adamant following recent injury he will take the field this Saturday.

A tough season for many and with plenty of ups and downs throughout the competition, Ireland rugby proved too much of a formidable force and 2 teams booked their places in the final. This success was not unnoticed as 3 Irish players are amongst the short list of 5 for this season’s ERC European Player of the Year, and of the 2 remaining nominee’s, 1 is currently playing  his rugby at Ulster.

The ERC European Player of the year will be chosen following this weekend’s Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup finals and the winner from the nominee list of Leinster’s Rob Kearney and Jonathan Sexton, Ulster’s Stephen Ferris and Ruan Piennar and Toulon’s Jonny Wilkinson will be announced.

Ireland will have much to celebrate on Monday, as it’s assured that the Heineken Cup will be coming to Ireland, but to which province is unknown, and who knows we may also see one of Ireland’s finest players win ERC European Player of the Year.

It has been said that Scotland and Wales are considering putting in a bid to host Euro 2020. If it passes, this bid will involve the Republic of Ireland as well.

At this point only Turkey has come forward to confirm they are bidding. UEFA’s official deadline is midnight at the end of Tuesday. UEFA president Michel Platini has stated that he would support Turkey’s bid but only if Istanbul failed in its bid to host the Olympics in the same year which is understandable.

Despite the Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan confirming the idea of bidding for Euro 2020 had been discussed at the very least, there has still been no confirmation from Scottish or Welsh FA officials but it is believed that talks are well and truly in place.

Where Ireland comes in all this is that there is a need for expansion (in addition to Scotland and Wales) of the tournament due to the involvement of 24 teams.

A source told the Press Association: “Discussions have taken place about bidding but we would not be able to bid alone. It may need to be three countries involved.”

Fingers and toes are crossed as it would be brilliant for Ireland to host and be part of such a large event. The tourism industry here in Ireland will always welcome more visitors as it gives people the chance to enjoy Ireland’s wonderful sights and experiences.

Ireland will welcome Jessie J this summer as she will be performing at the Marquee in Cork for two sold out nights. She added the second date following the high demand for tickets. She will be performing on Sunday, July 1st and Tuesday, July 3rd.

Jessie is currently a judge on the very popular UK show ‘The Voice’.  Sir Tom Jones, Will.i.am and The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue join her on the panel in which they judge the contestants voice solely.

Her debut album ‘Who You Are’ , which was released in 2011, saw the British singer-songwriter rise to fame. Last week she made chart history as the first UK female artist to chart six Top 10 singles from one album. Those hits include ‘Do It Like a Dude’, ‘Price Tag’, ‘Who You Are’, ‘Domino’ and the latest single which is entitled ‘LaserLight’.

This week a team of French food experts from Commanderie des Fins Goustiers du Duché d’Alencon based in Normandy are travelling to Ireland to knight 5 people for their services to the sausage and pudding industry.

The group are dedicated to the recognising and promoting the highest meat products in Europe, and will this week recognise Ireland’s very own as top sausage producers in Europe. Those Irish producers to be celebrated include: Diarmuid McGettigan of McGettigan’s of Donegal, craft butcher Des Doyle from Greystones and well known Irish Chef Neven Maguire, of MacNean’s Bistro in Cavan who will be knighted for his support of local produce.

Also to be knighted this week for their dedication to promoting artisan producers is John Hickey and Dave Lang from the Association of Craft Butchers in Ireland.

The committee travelling from France, are also in charge of the European Championships for sausages and puddings, and in November 2011 awarded the best sausage in Europe to the McGettigan brothers for their hickory and maple pork sausage. At that time it was Ernan who was knighted and this weekend, brother Diarmuid will be knighted.

It is hoped that the recent accolades accumulated by the McGettigan brothers that include Grand Prix of Excellence for their pork curry, banana and mango sausages, and a Grand Prix of Honour for their traditional pork sausages will encourage them to start distributing their fine quality produce outside of Ireland.

And it’s not just Irish sausages that are top of the table, the Irish pudding has also be winning awards, accolades and recognition; with McCarthy’s of Kanturj winning a gold medal from La Confrérie des Chevaliers du Goûte Boudin (the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Black Pudding) for its pudding and Rosscarbery Recipes and Kelly’s of Newport who have also been honoured by the same brotherhood for their black puddings.

Congratulations to all the winners who provide truly scrumptious Irish sausage and Irish Pudding that we all enjoy devouring as part of our full Irish breakfast, as well as in our traditional Irish lunches and dinners!

An anonymous Twitter user from Belfast has used the social networking site to issue death threats to Sunderland star James McClean. Understandably, McClean took the decision to delete his twitter account to halt any further abuse. The abuse occurred after it was revealed that McClean was named as part of the Republic of Ireland squad for Euro 2012. Under the Good Friday Agreement, McClean is entitled to play for the Republic.

The Football Association of Ireland issued a statement which read: “It’s a pity it has come to this, but it is maybe in his best interests in the short term,” a spokesman said.

The death threats have no doubt overshadowed an otherwise positive news story as up until that point, McClean was receiving many well wishes and messages of support once the news broke. The support came from both sides of the border.

Despite the conditions, 20,000 people from all over Ireland and indeed the rest of the world took part in yesterday’s Belfast Marathon.

It certainly was the place to be on Bank Holiday Monday despite the bad weather, as almost 3,800 runners competed in the full marathon, which is a new record for Belfast and thousands more competed in other events like the relay and the walk.

The 31st Belfast City Marathon route included all parts of the city and ended in the Ormeau Park, and winner of the men’s race, Ethiopian Urga Neqowu completed the marathon course  in 2:13:41 knocking more than 1 minute off the previous best time recorded at this event.

The rain and cold winds didn’t dampen the spirits of the competitors and supporters, who turned out to cheer on friends, family and new faces they didn’t know.

This is the sixth year of the Connemara Mussel Festival on the Renvyle Peninsula and it will take places from the 4th-6th May 2012. Astonginsly, over a ton of mussels were eaten and organisers are set to harvest just over three tonnes of Killary Mussels to ensure they are enough supplies to go around this weekend. Professional chefs will be on hand to demonstrate the cooking of mussels and other local produce.

There will also be lots of music and fun to be enjoyed by all the family at the event.

As mentioned previously, there is much happening this May bank holiday weekend, including the Limerick Riverfest, which takes place in Limerick City and includes the Great Limerick International BBQ. The Riverfest has something for everyone with fashion shows, live music, street performances, headline bands in the Big Top and art workshops, and coincides with The Great Limerick Run, which is expected to attract over 8,000 competitors from around the world!

Taking place this Sunday, 6th May, the Great Limerick Run is in its third year and is already becoming synonymous with the May Bank Holiday weekend festivities. Due to demand, organisers have agreed to a further 500 participants, meaning it’s expected that 8,500 entrants will take part in the six mile race, half marathon and full marathon.

The 500 or so volunteers will help to ensure that the event goes smoothly and that participants from all over the world including the US, Australia, mainland Europe and the UK as well as from here in Ireland are well looked after on race day.

Good luck to all taking part!