On Friday, a jury found that Conor McGregor sexually assaulted Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in 2018. Gavin and Sinéad discuss the case on today’s show, and some of the reasons why the jury may have come to their decision. They also discuss the likelihood of McGregor being granted an appeal, and salute the astonishing strength and bravery of Nikita Hand. They also chart McGregor’s rise and fall: why did he become so popular in Ireland in the first place? And when did that popularity first...

Gavin and Sinead discuss what happens when a totemic leader reaches the end. Should they be kept close to the team, or even be given a bespoke role like Johnny Sexton? Or is a clean break as in the case of Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp or Bill Shankly preferable? Could Sexton be inhibiting the next wave of Irish out-halves, in the same manner that Alex Ferguson’s lingering presence at Old Trafford weighed heavily on successive managers? Or is it totally different for a player, and would Ireland...

Was Katie Taylor the just winner of last night’s fight for the ages with Amanda Serrano? Was the majesty of Taylor-Serrano II diminished by its staging as part of a farcical event featuring Jake Paul and Mike Tyson? Was the fight so good as to deem such concerns irrelevant? Might Netflix now seek to stage Taylor-Serrano III as a headlining event, minus the novelty sideshow involving a YouTube personality and boxer who hit his peak 38 years ago? These questions and more are answered by Gavan...

Why are Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano fighting on the undercard of the ‘freakshow’ that is Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul? Gavin Cooney and Sinead O’Carroll are joined from Dallas by Gavan Casey, and the trio discuss the rise of novelty ‘boxing’ events. They differ on whether Taylor is compromising her legacy by taking her place on such a card. Should the Bray fighter have turned her back on this spectacle, or would she be mad to have turned down the Netflix riches; a purse that dwarfs...

WITH IRELAND KICKING off their November rugby internationals against New Zealand on Friday night, Gav and Sinéad debate the extent to which Ireland can really be called Rugby Country. Is rugby really a national obsession? The popularity of the provinces and the Irish national team is beyond question, but how has that fanbase grown given so few people play the game? Given the fact the Irish team is dominated by players produced by private schools, can the team be said to represent the country...

AS THE LEAGUE of Ireland season draws towards its nerve-shredding final day, Gav and Sinead discuss the boom in popularity of domestic football. Why have crowds increased so significantly this decade? And can the rising numbers be leveraged into that most elusive and long-desired of things: a thriving football industry in Ireland. The pair talk about what needs to happen next to make that aspiration real, from improved stadiums with greater capacity, to television deals with major...

There is an election on the horizon - even though the government won’t tell us when it will be. Whenever the official election campaign swings into action, though, it’s a near-certainty that no politician will be asked about sport. Today Gavin and Sinéad wonder why that is the case: can we really be said to care about sport in any real way if it is never raised as an election topic? Gavin and Sinéad explain why Ireland’s parish pump politics has led to inequality in access to sports...

GAA president Jarlath Burns last weekend floated the possibility that inter-county GAA managers could be put under regularised contracts, which brought back to the surface a persistent talking point in GAA: payments to managers. Despite the GAA’s amateur status, successive presidents and directors-general of the Association have acknowledged that managers are paid at club and inter-county level. On today’s show, Sinéad O’Carroll and Gavin Cooney reveal how much managers are making at club and...

Sinead O'Carroll and Gavin Cooney discuss whether Israel could face sporting sanctions. The pair examine why Israel has been judged differently than Russia by sporting bodies so far. They question where the moral and diplomatic lines sit - and detail how sport can be used for noble and nefarious purposes in an increasingly war-riven world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gavin and Sinéad are back for the second episode of The 42FM and they aren't alone! This week, Murray Kinsella drops into the studio to discuss the journey that Irish women's rugby has taken to get to the point where they have managed to beat New Zealand. Sinéad, Gavin and Murray analyse the structures of women's rugby in Ireland, discuss the commercial and moral reasons behind the increased focus on the women's game, and debate what is needed to push the sport on to the next level. Every...

Today we launch a new podcast, The 42FM with Gavin Cooney and Sinéad O’Carroll. Building on the success of Olympics Daily with Cooney & O’Carroll, The 42FM will zoom out on the biggest sports story of the week, bringing the wider context and issues into play. Here, Sinéad and Gavin analyse and debate whether it is right that Limerick’s decorated wing-back Kyle Hayes was nominated as Hurler of the Year - in a year where he faced charges which could have led to him being jailed. Is it...

Cooney & O'Carroll are back! Off the back of their incredible success with Olympics Daily, Gavin Cooney and Sinéad O'Carroll are back with brand-new podcast The 42FM, an epic handshake between The Journal and The 42! Every Tuesday, they will zoom out on the biggest sports story of the week to explore the wider context and issues at play - it’s sports meets news, current affairs, society and pop culture. If you have any suggestions for future episodes, contact [email protected] or...

Here it is then, the final episode of of Olympics Daily: Paris 2024. Gavin and Sinead gather at the mics for one last time, mainly because the longer they talk the longer they can convince themselves that the Games haven’t actually ended. They chat through their favourite memories from the Games, and what we learned about our greatest sportspeople. They also reflect on today’s homecoming event for Team Ireland, as 20,000 fans flocked to O’Connell Street on a Monday afternoon to pay homage to...

And it must come to an end. Gav and Sinéad report from Ireland's final two events at Paris 2024 - an incredible fifth Olympics for Fionnuala McCormack and a sensory blitzkrieg from the velodrome. They also run through their favourite moments of the past 16 days, from Irish gold medals to sport-changing performances. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So close! The brilliant 4x400m women's relay team finished fourth in the Olympic final after running a national record. The quartet were devastated talking to journalists afterwards, and Sinéad and Gav give their view of that room. Earlier, Sinéad went weightlifting to watch a member of the Refugee Olympic Team while Gav dealt with the online fallout of his questioning of Bahraini athlete Salwa Eid Naser on Friday night. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The country watched on as Rhasidat Adeleke came fourth in a world final for the second time. Sinéad and Gav were in Stade de France to witness the 21-year-old's disappointment as she fell short of her podium dream. They discuss her future - from tomorrow night's relay final to future Olympic and world title chances. Earlier, Sinéad delighted in the 4x400m relay qualification while Gav enjoyed the madness of Daniel Wiffen's Seine exploits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Gavin bagged a media ticket to watch the USA’s star-spangled basketball team and reports back from their stunning comeback win against Serbia, which earned them a spot in Saturday’s gold medal match against France. Sinead, meanwhile, was at the Stade de France to watch Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone turn the 400m hurdles final into history’s fastest procession. They also discuss Noah Lyles’ revelation that he ran the 200m final with Covid, and ponder whether these Games may suffer a greater Covid...

Rhasidat Adeleke has made history by qualifying for an Olympic sprint final, but she admitted afterwards it was a “messy race” that leaves a lot of things to fix for Friday’s final. Gavin reports from a curious night at the Stade de France and asks what her performance augurs for the final. Sinead spent a day at Taekwondo with Jack Woolley, and reports on an agonising near-miss after an agonising wait. Gavin also has happier news from the morning’s track events, though is mortified by making...

Kellie Harrington has done it: she has become the first Irish Olympian to successfully defend their title since, well, Friday. Let’s say she’s only the second to do it since 1932. Gav and Sinead were both in Roland-Garros to see the crowning moment of her farewell, and report on what it felt like in the moment and what it means to Kellie, who said that, “this one’s for me.” That was a happy sequel to a disappointing morning for Team Ireland: Sinead was out at a showjumping final that didn’t...

Gav and Sinead were both there to witness Rhasidat Adeleke’s comfortable victory in her first run at the Olympic Games. What does the time and result mean for her medal hopes? Is it time to get very excited? Meanwhile, there is live reaction to the breaking news of Ciara Mageean’s devastating, injury-enforced withdrawal from the Olympic Games. From Ireland’s point of view, it’s news to grey an Olympic Games even as vivid as this. Sinead previews tomorrow’s showjumping final, which may deliver...

Sinead reports back from the final act of Ireland’s miracle Olympic week: a bronze medal for Daniel Wiffen in the 1500m freestyle. But was he a little disappointed with it? And even if he was, does it really matter? Have you not seen how many medals we’ve won? Gavin meanwhile enjoyed/endured/loved/hated another day yoked to Rory McIlroy, as he first raised hope of an Olympic medal before losing it in one dramatic moment. Scottie Scheffler won the gold medal on a dramatic day that secured...

It's six medals in six days. Three of them are gold - and one of them might yet turn to gold. Gav and Sinéad are giddy about Team Ireland's phenomenal performance in the first week of Paris 2024. Both of them were there for Rhys McClenaghan's nerves-of-steel turn on the pommel horse, and even in the madness of Olympic glory, he gave answers to some of the technical questions they had about his podium-topping routine. And in a rematch for the ages, Kellie Harrington proved she's in the form of...

Ireland have a second gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games - Gavin reports back from the scene at which Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy confirmed their status as Olympic and Irish greats. It was a tough night for the Irish mixed relay team, who missed out on a place in their final. We discuss whether Rhasidat Adeleke was right to sit it out, and pay tribute to Thomas Barr on his farewell to the Olympic Games. Sinead reports back from Versailles, the opulent setting for the team showjumping...

Sinéad witnessed her fourth medal of the Olympic Games - more than many journalists see in their entire sports writing careers - at the Nautical Stadium as Daire Lynch and Philip Doyle crossed the line in third in the Double Sculls. Gav spent the day wrapping his head around the various controversies surrounding boxing so he could explain them all to our listeners in a clear-eyed, thoughtful manner. Plus, he brings us the detail of just how bad that decision was for Daina Moorehouse. Olympics...