The Last Word with Matt Cooper

A new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute says that there was a strong link between the number of cases of Covid-19 reported daily and the efforts the Irish public made to reduce the spread of infection.Professor Pete Lunn, Research Professor at the ESRI spoke to Matt about these findings, and how attitudes and behavioural patterns towards the pandemic varied among different socio-economic backgrounds and age groups.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to listen to the conversation.

Thinking of heading to Australia and not sure where to start? Kaitlin Murphy from the travelexpert.ie has just returned from spending a year down under. She joins The Last Word to run through everything you should know before you go, including visa requirements, the best places to live, how to find a job and how life in Australia compares to Ireland.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Ireland came from behind to beat Wales on Saturday and set up what is being billed as the title decider for this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations.Matt spoke to Will O’Callaghan from Off The Ball and Matt Williams about Ireland’s performance, squad fitness ahead of Round 4, and France’s impressive victory over Italy.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the chat.

In a recent interview with the Sunday Times, Garda Assistant Commissioner Paul Cleary said he wants to make increasing the number of guards on the streets of Dublin a priority.Gary Gannon, Social Democrats TD for Dublin North Central & spokesperson for Justice and Catherine Ardagh, Fianna Fail TD for Dublin South Central, spoke to Matt about what they think needs to be done to make the city's streets safer.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the discussion.

Pope Francis' health scare leaves many wondering if he will resign, living in a cabin in the garden, and the future of the James Bond franchise.Fionnuala Jones and Dave Hanratty join The Last Word to discuss the week's trending stories.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne joins The Last Word to discuss measures being considered by government to boost homebuilding and address the housing crisis.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Elon Musk took to the stage in Washington this week and showed off a chainsaw given to him by Argentina’s president Javier Milei. Musk went on to say that it was his “chainsaw for bureaucracy”, whilst also wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.Larry Donnelly, Law Lecturer at University of Galway & Columnist with TheJournal.ie joined Matt on Friday’s The Last Word.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear the conversation.

Andy O'Donoghue joins The Last Word to discuss how artificial intelligence is evolving and how soon we could see a version of AI that adapts and learns like humans.Catch the full chat by pressing the 'Play' button on this page!

Ian Guider, columnist with The Business Post, joins Matt to discuss all the big business headlines from Wednesday.IDA Ireland plans to deliver 75,000 new jobs in their five year plan, amid economic and political uncertaintyListen here for all the latest business news

Ahead of the release of his new show Small Town, Big Story on Sky Atlantic, actor Chris O’Dowd was the latest guest to be inducted into The Last Word’s Culture Club.Hit the ‘Play’ button on this page to hear his choices.