The Last Word with Matt Cooper

On Monday, gardaí conducted raids on members of a Dublin-based drugs gang known as The Family.The Irish Times reported that the gardaí’s National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau has been investigating the group for up to a decade.Conor Lally, Crime and Security Editor with The Irish Times, joined Ian Guider on The Last Word to explain the story.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Elaine Burke and Joe O’Shea discuss the four-part Netflix drama, Adolescence, written by and starring Stephen Graham, that is being watched all over the world. Dealing with toxic influences in teenaged lives, Joe and Elaine talk about why they think it’s an era defining drama.

Ireland beat Bulgaria 2-1 (4-2 on aggregate) in the Aviva Stadium on Sunday night which retains their status in League B in the Nations League.Gavin Cooney, Sportswriter with The42.ie and Off The Ball’s Will O’Callaghan spoke to Matt about a positive few days for Heimir Hallgrimsson, Evan Ferguson getting on the scoresheet again and how these results can benefit Ireland’s World Cup qualifying prospects.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Has medicine gone too far in diagnosing disorders like autism, ADHD or even long Covid? Can these diagnoses sometimes hinder a person more than they help?Neurologist Dr Suzanne O'Sullivan joins The Last Word to discuss the dangers of over medicalisation as explored in her new book 'The Age of Diagnosis'.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Following his St Patrick's Day White House visit, Conor McGregor has said he will run for president of Ireland this year; Tesla cars are being boycott in protest against Elon Musk; and what countries are the happiest?Laura Byrne, voices editor and podcast producer with TheJournal.ie, and Eoghan Tomás McDermott, managing director of The Communication Clinic, join The Last Word to discuss the week's trending stories.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

A teacher has claimed that she was wrongly identified as the so-called “GAA Catfish”, and has secured a short term injunction restraining her employer from continuing a disciplinary process against her.The story was originally told on The 2 Johnnies podcast and detailed how a woman was using fake online profiles to dupe men into romantic relationships.Carl O’Brien, Education Editor with The Irish Times, explained the story on The Last Word.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

In his latest book, high performance coach Gerry Hussey examines the power of the inner voice and how to silence the criticisms that are holding you back from your dreams.Gerry joins The Last Word to discuss his new book 'I Am, I Can, I Will'.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Andy O'Donoghue runs through a comprehensive list of alternatives to Amazon streaming, smart home, shopping and audiobook offerings.To catch the full conversation, press the 'play' button on this page.

A jury in North Dakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay $660m to the company Energy Transfer after finding it liable for defamation over protests that took place in 2016 & 2017.After the verdict, Greenpeace said that lawsuits such as this are “destroying the right to peaceful protest”.John Gibbons joined Matt for Thursday’s environment slot on The Last Word.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear their discussion.

The Government will miss its own housing targets over the next three years, according to new analysis from the Central Bank. Ian Guider, columnist with the Business Post, joins The Last Word to discuss why housing delivery is likely to fall short in the coming years and more of the day's business news.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!