The Last Word with Matt Cooper

Fine Gael junior minister Damien English resigned on Thursday after it was revealed he gave incorrect information when making a planning application to a local authority to build a house in a rural area. Brendan O’Sullivan, Head of the Planning School at UCC discussed whether Mr. English’s house should be demolished. Meanwhile Daniel McConnell, Political Editor of the Irish Examiner explained the significance of the resignation for the government. For the full chat click the play button on this page.

A recent study from the school of nursing and midwifery at Trinity College Dublin found that there’s been a steady rise in first-time mothers giving birth via caesarean section. Dr. Brian Higgins from Galway Primary Care explained the reasons behind these figures on this week’s The Last Word on Health. For the full chat click the 'play' button on this page.

As further anti-refugee demonstrations were organised in parts of the country, Matt was joined by Brendan Ogle, Senior Officer at Unite and John Lannon, Chief Executive of Doras to discuss whether legitimate protests will be hijacked by the far-right. For the full chat click the 'play' button on this page.

On The Last Word’s weekly environment slot, John Gibbons spoke to Matt about an assessment from the World Meteorological Organisation which said that the Earth’s ozone layer is on track to fully recover by 2066. They also covered a recent report which found that Dublin was ranked the 5th most congested in Europe, and the 12th worst globally. For the full chat click the 'play' button on this page.

This week marks one year since the killing of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy. Her death sparked calls to improve women’s safety in Ireland. Noeline Blackwell from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and Professor Louise Crowley from UCC’s School of Law and director of the Bystander Intervention Programme joined Matt to discuss whether any progress has been made on this in the last year. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

The Banshees of Inisherin saw huge success at the 2023 Golden Globes, winning three awards. Roe McDermott, movies editor with Hot Press joined Matt on The Last Word to discuss the likelihood of Martin McDonagh’s tragicomedy winning at the Oscars and what films are its biggest competitors. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

Almost 7 in 10 people are unaware of a new tax credit brought in with the last budget, according to a survey carried out by Taxback.com. Charlie Weston joined Matt to discuss. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

ChatGPT is a new AI-chatbot launched late last year which can write stories, poems and coding solutions. But questions are now being raised about the use and boundaries of AI. Andy O'Donoghue joined Matt to explain what ChatGPT can do and why there are concerns about it. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

There were 534 people waiting for a bed in hospitals this morning as pressure on the health care system continues. Dr. Chris Luke, former emergency medicine consultant joined Matt to discuss measures he believes would help to fix the Irish health service. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

There's been a lot of anticipation for Prince Harry's memoir but with so many scandalous stories being leaked before it's published you might wonder if the book is even worth reading. Journalist Lise Hand joined Matt to give her review of 'Spare'. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.