The 42FM

Sinead is joined by Gavin from Augusta National. It is the morning after another epic night for Rory McIlroy. But did it need to be epic? Does it always have to be so fraught, so tortuous? Yes, it seems. “Nobody,” as Gav says, “this good needs to be this interesting.” Some people just can’t help themselves. We discuss the moments it seemed to be slipping away from McIlroy, from his wayward tee sho...

Gavin Cooney dials in from Augusta to look ahead to the 2026 Masters with Sinéad O'Carroll. Despite finally getting his hands on a green jacket last year, Rory McIlroy is still the talk of the town. How is he embracing his champion status? How will he perform this year with the pressure finally off to complete the Grand Slam? Will journalists ask him about The Daily Mail’s coverage of Alan Shipnuc...

Sinead O’Carroll and Gavin Cooney discuss the rise and prolonged downfall of golf’s greatest ever player. From prodigious talent levels in childhood to dominating the sport in his 20s and 30s, to the slow and scandal-riven decline, Tiger Woods has rarely been away from the headlines. Is the near-constant scrutiny, overwhelming fame and atypical childhood enough to engender sympathy for Woods, desp...

Gavin Cooney and David Sneyd provide immediate reaction from the Fortuna Arena in Prague as Ireland fall to the cruelest of defeats in the World Cup semi-final play-off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gavin Cooney dials in from Prague to chat to Sinead O’Carroll during a defining week for Irish football. Gav is optimistic but daunted on Ireland’s behalf, as they need five competitive wins in a row to make the World Cup finals in America. Sinead, informed by her data analyst sister, says, no - Ireland just need to win one game. And then win more. A more optimistic interpretation again suggests t...

Munster’s Edwin Edogbo made his Ireland debut during the 2026 Six Nations campaign, after which he was subject to vile, racist abuse on social media. On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin speak to Jonathan Sebire, co-founder of Signify, which monitors and reports online abuse of athletes. The IRFU are among Signify’s clients, and Jonathan explains how Signify worked to identify some of those who s...

The planned merger of the GAA, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association is back in the news. The next president of the GAA, newly elected, has less ambitious timelines for the project than are currently in place. Sinéad is joined in studio by Senator Evanne Ní Chuilinn who is vice chair of the Oireachtas committee on sport and a GAA member. We talk to her about what any c...

RTÉ last week sold its 50% stake in GAA Plus née Go for €3 million. The news was met with a shrug, but Sinead's brow is furrowed. With Gav on leave, she's joined by technology and media professional Steve Dempsey to dig into the deal. Was €3 million a fair price for half of a profitable, growing streaming business, or did the GAA just walk away with a goldmine? Steve runs the numbers and builds a...

Sinead and Gavin take a look at a new policy that seeks to enhance the country’s international reputation through sport - while the government argues that a football game against Israel should not be politicised. Gav went along to the launch of the International Sports Diplomacy Framework on Tuesday to see what it was about, and to get answers on why the government seems to be speaking out of both...

Sinead and Gavin discuss in-depth the pressing issue of this week, and one that will likely make headlines all year. The FAI have been placed in the unenviable position of having to navigate a path out of the crisis which began when Ireland were drawn to play Israel in the Nations League. Some 93% of the FAI’s General Assembly have previously voted to suspend Israel from international football, ye...

Sinead O’Carroll dials in from northern Italy to tell Niall Kelly about all of the sporting and political action in Milano Cortina. Several US athletes, including Amber Glenn and Hunter Hess, have spoken up against the Trump administration this week, which has led to an inevitable backlash from the US President and his Maga base. Sinead relays the atmosphere in Italy and assesses a week where Trum...

Sinead is off to northern Italy for the Winter Olympics this week. Today she tells Gav about her lifelong fascination with figure skating: how it started, how it developed and what she expects to see over the coming days in Milano Cortina. Also, Sinead runs the rule over Ireland’s four Winter Olympians and rates their chances. We delve into the reduced representation of 13 Russian athletes, who co...

French rugby player Thibaud Flament last week announced that he would not be available to play Ireland in the Six Nations owing to his and his wife’s fertility treatment. On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin discuss Flament’s story in the context of how the media covers matters of pregnancy, fertility and parenthood in elite sport. They illustrate how things have moved on from the days a man woul...

Cyclists have become a nightmare in Dublin, according to one headline-making judge last week. And Judge James O’Donohoe is far from alone in Ireland in feeling comfortable criticising cyclists, despite the fact that 14 were killed in our roads last year, and 45 in the past five years. This week Gav and Sinead discuss why so many people have such a negative view of cyclists, and cycling itself...

Why is the purported biggest club in British football in such a perpetual state of chaos? Gavin and Sinead delve into the reasons United have failed to adapt to a post Alex Ferguson world, and come to the conclusion that the club needs a powerful figure to oversee the empire, even if that figure is not always reasonable. We are living in a time of corporate committees running football clubs, with...

In these uncertain times, getting even less certain by the hour, Sinead and Gavin take a look ahead to the summer’s World Cup in America and discuss how it will play out. Most fundamentally, will it take place against a backdrop of military activity? US co-hosts Mexico and Canada have already felt the chill of Donald Trump’s threatening rhetoric, which can, as recent events show, turn to action. E...

Midway through the World Cup cycle, Sinead and Gav assess the health of the Ireland rugby team with an eye on the perennial question: Can we win a World Cup quarter final? Optimism levels in rugby country are more subdued than usual following a lacklustre Autumn series, while the provinces, especially Leinster, are not inspiring confidence. The pair discuss what needs to happen between now and Oct...

Mo Salah’s outburst after being left on the bench during Liverpool’s draw with Leeds on Saturday means the legendary forward has probably kicked his last ball for the Reds. But is Salah right to suggest he has been thrown under the bus by the club he has served so well for eight years? Is it natural that he feels singled out when his drop in form has been replicated across Arne Slot’s expensively...

Fans across the world are eagerly anticipating the finale of the Formula 1 season this weekend, but how much of that is down to the sport, and how much is due to the dramatisation of everything that is F1 on the Netflix series Drive to Survive? This week Sinead and Gav marvel at how F1 has cracked America with the help of Netflix, and wonder what Irish sports and teams could benefit from a more op...

After Scotland’s remarkable qualification for next year’s World Cup, captain Andy Robertson gave an emotional insight into his grief following the tragic death of his Liverpool team-mate, Diogo Jota. On this week’s podcast, Sinéad and Gavin discuss Robertson’s interview, and why it led to a wider media discussion about the continuing impact of Jota’s death on everyone at Liverpool. With Liverpool...

It is another gloriously happy day, as Sinéad and Gavin continue to bask with the rest of you in the beautiful afterglow of Ireland’s victory in Hungary. Gavin is back from Budapest and gives Sinéad the lowdown on how the whole, mad drama played out in the stadium. But truly it doesn’t matter where you watch Troy Parrott’s winning goal - what matters is that you are united with millions of Irish p...

How many times has Sinéad asked Gav is it possible? Could we?... is there any way? She should have been asking Troy Parrott. Ireland's stunning 3-2 win over Hungary is all anyone wants to talk about today. Unfortunately, Gav and Sinéad record on Tuesdays and Gav, naturally, is a wanted man elsewhere today. But we wanted to give our loyal listeners an extra treat - free access to The 42's Football...

With the League of Ireland season over, clubs’ attention now turns to recruiting new players for next year, during which they will quickly run into the realities of Ireland’s housing crisis. On this week’s show, Sinéad and Gavin explain how the crisis affects professional sport in Ireland, how it has come to define certain sports and competitions, and how these impacts articulate the wider issues...

The Irish language and hurling should be accessible and a source of joy to many. Has this always been the case? Is it even the case now? Or are they ring-fenced? Taught in specific environments - school and GAA clubs that happen to offer hurling, which are not so plentiful in much of the country? But what could happen if the language and game of hurling were not restricted to these environments? H...

Gav and Sinead discuss the events of last week, when there were yet more job losses in Irish sports journalism. This will affect sports fans in a number of ways, from there being fewer experienced people to hold organisations and individuals to account, to less depth and quality in the coverage of sport. Why are some media organisations laying off their most seasoned journalists? Why is there less...