The Last Word with Matt Cooper

In this week’s The Last Word on Travel, Sarah Slattery from TheTravelExpert.ie looked at the popular destination of Lanzarote. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

Orla Ryan from thejournal.ie and Damian McLoughlin, professor of marketing at UCD Smurfit Business School joined Matt on The Last Word to discuss the week's other news stories including Donie O'Sullivan being kicked off Twitter and influencers behaving badly. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

The Qatar World Cup will come to a close when title-holders France take on Argentina in Doha on Sunday. To preview the game Matt was joined by Miguel Delaney, Tony Cascarino and Mark Lawrenson. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

Dave Hanratty and Zara Hedderman joined Matt on The Last Word to discuss their top podcast picks for 2022. ZARA'S TOP PICKS · Jokermen (Music) · Unreal: A Critical History of Reality Tv (Pop culture/Entertainment) · To Here Knows When: Great Irish Albums Revisited (Music) · Scamfluencers (Crime/comedy) · Bjork: Sonic Symbolism (Music) DAVE’S TOP PICKS · The Video Archives Podcast with Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary (Entertainment) · The Coming Storm (News/current affairs) · Hard Fork (Tech/social media/society trends) · Crime Junkie (True Crime) · Wrighty’s House (Sport) Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

Michael Foley, Sunday Times Sportswriter and Kieran Cunningham, Chief Sportswriter with the Irish Daily Star gave their choices on their favourite sports books from the last 12 months. Sports books choices: MICHAEL’S CHOICES: The Game, Tadhg Coakley (close to best book of the year) The GAA in 100 Objects (GAA book of the year) Scoring Goals in the Dark, Clare Shine (best football book, before I've read the Rodfather) Honourable mentions: After the Storm – Damian Lawlor England Football: The Biography – Paul Hayward Away Days, 30 Years of Irish Footballers in the Premier League – Gareth Maher Martin Og Morrissey: An Autobiography KIERAN’S CHOICES: The Game – Tadhg Coakley Let’s Get Physical – Danielle Friedman The GAA in 100 Objects – Siobhan Doyle 15 Rounds in the Wilderness – Dave Hannigan Limerick: A biography in Nine Lives MATT'S CHOICES: Kellie - Kellie Harrington and Roddy Doyle Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar - Alan Shipnuck The Rodfather - Roddy Collins and Paul Howard Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

John Gibbons joined Matt to give his tips for the best environmentally conscious gifts for a loved one this Christmas. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

Figures provided to The Irish Times by An Garda Síochána show that just 71 fines have been given to motorists for dangerous overtaking of cyclists since legislation was introduced three years ago. Kevin Jennings, chairperson for the Galway Cycling Campaign and motoring journalist Geraldine Herbert spoke to The Last Word about how to improve safety for cyclists on our roads. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

With a GP shortage around the country, Dr. Brian Higgins from Galway Primary Care discussed the issue with Matt and advised the most effective ways to become registered with a practitioner. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

Authors Kevin Power and Edel Coffey joined Matt on The Last Word to discuss their favourite fiction books of 2022. List of books: Trespasses by Louise Kennedy Homesickness: Stories by Colin Barrett The Singularities by John Banville Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman The Geometer Lobochevsky by Adrian Duncan Common Decency by Susannah Dickey The Colony by Audrey Magee Edith by Martina Devlin The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan It Ends With Us/Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover The Amusements by Aingeala Flannery Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.

The cross examination of Jonathan Dowdall has continued in the Special Criminal Court. Dowdall is a key witness in the murder trial of Gerry Hutch. Today FM courts correspondent Frank Greaney outlined on The Last Word what happened in court. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page.