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Mike Bloomberg hasn't been re-elected Mayor of New York City, yet, but giant Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has been taking no

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is asking gamblers: which celebrity will be the next to leave the Church of Scientology?

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

WITH VIDEO: Tens of thousands of people are traveling to the Knock shrine in Ireland this weekend for a predicted apparition by the Virgin Mary. There is such strong belief in her appearance that people are even placing bets at Irish bookmakers.

Did you know that Dublin has more gay men and women per capita than San Francisco? Or that in recent years Ireland’s become a go-to destination for gay and lesbian travelers? Recent banner attractions for the GLTB visitor have included the Bingham Cup – sometimes referred to as the gay Rugby World Cup – which was held in Dublin in 2008.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is taking bets at 12-1 that September 24th, the date that Guinness celebrates its birthday, will become a national holiday.

Bookmakers BoyleSports has decided the result of the Lisbon Treaty is s foregone conclusion by paying out to punters who stumped on a “Yes” vote for the October 2 referendum.

Tiger Woods' spectacular collapse at the US PGA in Hazeltine has cost Ireland's largest bookmaker $2.1 million.

Miss Ireland, Diana Donnelly, has been named a favorite to win this year’s Miss Universe pageant. On Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker Boylesports, a five-figure number was bet on the Irish beauty to win the contest. The bookmaker names Donnelly and Miss Honduras as their joint favorites at 12/1.

Irish airline Aer Lingus has named German Christoph Mueller as its new chief executive to take post on October 1. After a three-month long search for a new CEO after the resignation of Dermot Mannion, Mueller comes as a surprise external appointment for the Irish company.

Irish men can find cathartic release this summer by throwing the missus over the back and jumping over a few fences against other intensely motivated males. It’s all happening in Sneem County Kerry on July 25 when the Paddy Power second annual Irish Wife Carrying Championship takes place.

Controversial Irish singer Sinead O’Connor is set to become the first victim of Ireland’s proposed new blasphemy laws according to gamblers on popular Irish bookmaker Paddy Power.

During this tough economic time, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is doing exceptionally well. Now, Ireland’s biggest betting Web site is capitalizing even more on the recession by inviting users to place bets on the economy.

The Irish gambling giant Paddy Power has made a $200m bet on Australia! The betting company has bought 51 percent of Sportsbet, one of Australia’s largest on-line and telephone betting agencies. Paddy Power has been looking for overseas markets as gambling has been on the decrease in Ireland and Britain.

Susan Boyle mania has spread to the betting parlors, and the Irish are putting their money where their mouths are.

It's nothing for wave-riding Irish surfers to worry about, but the nation is experiencing a serious shark problem. Card sharks, that is.

Ireland has gone rugby mad, according to bookies Paddy Power, who report Saturday’s Six Nations and Grand Slam decider as their biggest match in rugby betting history.

Leo Vardakar, a member of Parliament with the opposition Fine Gael party, said on a national TV show that Palin "reminds me of Mary Coughlan, which is why I'm terrified Brian Cowen may become incapable for some reason."

In a later interview with the Sunday Independent newspaper Vardakar didn't back down from his remark, claiming that Coughlan "has become more prone to mistakes, and my comments on the show merely reflected the similarities between the tanaiste and Sarah Palin."

Coughlan, who's having a rough time at the moment thanks to the ever-worsening state of the Irish economy, wasn't very impressed with Vardakar's remarks, though she didn't offer a rebuttal.

PLACING bets on anything and everything in Ireland and the U.K. is a national pastime, and top Irish bookie Paddy Power is offering an assortment of odds on all kinds of American political matters in the wake of Barack Obama's election.

Irish American voters are a key demographic in the race to decide who becomes president next week, and in the final days of the election campaign Irish American supporters of both parties are working tirelessly to elect their respective candidates.

The Irish Voice spoke to Irish American groups supporting both candidates in battleground states to get their take on how the respective campaigns are playing out on the ground.

In Pittsburgh, Jim Lamb, who is head of the Irish Institute there and an Irish for Obama campaign organizer, told the Irish Voice, "Pittsburgh is historically a Democratic city - our City Council is all Democrats - so people from Irish backgrounds here are more in support of Obama than McCain.

The British policeman who witnessed the end of the IRA and Sinn Fein's decision to support policing looks set to leave Northern Ireland.

The latest opinion poll in Ireland will have sent shivers down the backs of leading Fianna Fail politicians. The poll showed the party in third place, behind the Labor Party, for the first time in history. If an election were held now the party would almost certainly lose power and would be wiped out in major metropolitan areas.

Obama for Ireland?

DEMOCRATIC presidential contender Senator Barack Obama is likely to visit Ireland on an upcoming European trip, according to sources in his campaign. The news comes as details of an outreach to Irish supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton has became known.

This week a senior Obama advisor met with a major Clinton Irish supporter from Washington, D.