The Last Word with Matt Cooper

Peter O'Mahony and Robbie Henshaw have been added to the Irish side that will take on Scotland in round two of the Guinness Six Nations. Liam Toland and Matt Williams join The Last Word to discuss what to expect as Ireland head to Murrayfield this Sunday.Catch all the analysis by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Scientists crack the perfect boiled egg, thousands still without power two weeks after Storm Éowyn and Donald Trump wants to turn Gaza into the 'Riviera of the Middle East'.Eoghan Tomas McDermott, managing director at the Communications Clinic, and Laura Byrne, voices editor and podcast producer with The Journal, join The Last Word to discuss the week's trending stories. Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

New lower speed limits come into effect this week and motorists will see major reductions on many rural and urban roads.Conor Faughnan, transport commentator and chief executive of the RIAC, joins The Last Word to discuss the new speed limits and Ireland's road safety issues.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Andy O’Donoghue has a run down of all the latest fitness technology from free Apps, to smart watches.To listen to the full conversation, press the ‘play’ button on this page.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service has said that last month was the warmest January on record. This continues a series of temperature records since the middle of 2023, with temperatures approximately 0.2C above what had been anticipated.Commentator John Gibbons joined Matt for this week’s Environment slot.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

The family of Joe Drennan have expressed their anger at the prison sentence of the man who killed him in a hit and run in 2023.Kieran Fogarty from Co. Limerick received a six-and-a-half-year sentence for dangerous driving causing death & an eight-year sentence for a drive-by shooting earlier that year. Both sentences will run concurrently & have been backdated to October 2023.On Thursday’s The Last Word, Matt spoke to Conor Sheehan, Labour TD for Limerick City and Conor Hanly, Law Lecturer at the University of Galway about why sentences run concurrently in Ireland.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

On this week's Culture Club, Doireann Ní Ghlacáin, presenter, musician and co-host of How to Gael podcast, joins The Last Word to discuss her favourite music, movies and more.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

US President Donald Trump's plan to 'take over' war torn Gaza and turn it into the 'Riviera of the Middle East' has been met with shock and global condemnation.Professor Aoife O’Donoghue from Queen's University Belfast and journalist Hannah McCarthy join The Last Word to discuss the proposal which flies in the face of international law and risks further destabilising the Middle East.Later, Marion McKeone and Larry Donnelly join to assess whether the US President is really serious about this plan which would amount to an ethnic cleansing. Catch the full conversation by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Daragh O'Brien, the Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, and Transport, discusses critical plans for upgrading the ESB electricity grid to enhance resilience, especially post-storm. He delves into the financial implications of these upgrades, weighing costs on consumers versus the state. O'Brien also addresses the troubling shortfall in housing completions for 2024, critiquing current government targets and exploring solutions for first-time buyers in a challenging market.

On Tuesday, Matt was joined by author Joseph O’Connor as he discussed the release of his latest book “The Ghosts of Rome”.The book is set in spring 1944 and follows a group of people who help others escape the Germans in Rome, which has been occupied by the Nazis for six months.They also discussed the current political landscape in both Ireland and around the world, and how it is reflected in the themes throughout the novel.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear their conversation.