The Last Word with Matt Cooper

This week's Culture Club inductee is poet, playwright and novelist Sebastian Barry, whose new novel A Thousand Moons is out now. He joined us to talk about the book as well as his favourite authors, books, plays, movies, TV shows and music. Favourite Authors: George Eliot, Joseph Conrad, Anthony Trollope, Ali Smith Favourite Book: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Favourite Play: King Lear Favourite Movie: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Favourite TV show: The Onedin Line Favourite Album: Daoirí Farrell True Born Irishman Favourite Band: The Band First Single Ever Owned: Peter Cape - Taumarunui On The Main Trunk Line Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has said he plans to donate $1 billion towards efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, with the donation apparently representing around 28% of his wealth. While he didn't specify exactly where the funds would be sent, he plans to use his shares from the Square payment app rather than Twitter as he owns "a lot more" of them. Ian Guider, markets editor of the Business Post, joined us for our daily business update with story and more, including: EU fails to reach deal on COVID-19 bailout plan as Dutch are opposed to a coordinated bond issue to pay for it all €1 billion of supports now ready for COVID-19 impacted SMEs Tesco says coronavirus could cost it €1 billion as it hires tens of thousands of staff to cope Ornua, the company behind Kerrygold, saw profits rise last year but this will be hit by COVID-19 in 2020 Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.

Since the coronavirus arrived in Ireland, GP practices have had to change the way they operate. Doctors are now trying to reduce footfall through their practices as much as possible by carrying out phone and video consultations where appropriate. Dr Doireann O'Leary, GP with MyCorkGP and health blogger, joined us for our weekly medical consultation to discuss how being a doctor has changed in recent weeks and which medical conditions still require urgent attention at this time. Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.

If you're over the age of 70 and are cocooning due to COVID-19, how do you carry on doing your banking? For many older people, online banking may not be an option. However, the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland is offering advice and support for these people during the current crisis, while the main retail banks have also set up dedicated phone lines for this purpose. Brian Hayes, CEO of the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, joined us for our personal finance slot to advise older people on what they can do to look after their finances during this time. Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.

Two prominent American musicians sadly passed away in the last week: soul singer Bill Withers and Fountains of Wayne founder member Adam Schlesinger. Withers died of heart complications last Monday, aged 81. His hits included 'Ain't No Sunshine', 'Lean on Me' and 'Lovely Day'. Schlesinger passed away after testing positive for COVID-19. He was just 52. In addition to his work with Fountains of Wayne, he wrote and produced music for films such as That Thing You Do! and Music and Lyrics, as well as for TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. John Caddell and Dee Reddy joined us for our weekly music slot to pay tribute to both stars. Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.