From BBC News NI. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey react and reflect on the stories that impact all our lives and speak to those who can help us understand why we’re in the state we’re in. This podcast is a new way of talking and learning about the news in Northern Ireland. There’ll be lots of candid conversations, special guests, with wisdom, informality and some fun along the way.
Nothing will be off the table on “The State of Us”. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Contact thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
From BBC News NI. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey react and reflect on the stories that impact all our lives and speak to those who can help us understand why we’re in the state we’re in. This podcast is a new way of talking and learning about the news in Northern Ireland. There’ll be lots of candid conversations, special guests, with wisdom, informality and some fun along the way.
Nothing will be off the table on “The State of Us”. New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Contact thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Has the world of golf gone mad?
Swearing, shouting, and lobbing pints – that was the Ryder Cup 2025.
Stephen Watson is one of the closest journalists to NI golfer Rory McIlroy.
He's just back from Bethpage Black, where he said the atmosphere sometimes felt like a Trump rally.
He has followed Rory's career since he was a kid; through Masters wins and defeats, and at countless Ryder Cups.
But Stephen tells Tara Mills and Declan Harvey that the abuse the golfer received in New York was like nothing he has ever seen before.
A furious McIlroy swore at American fans during one of many heated moments of the golf tournament.
Is all of this just par for the course in a Ryder Cup competition, or is it time to call Fore! on golf’s bad behaviour?
This episode contains references to strong language.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Following on from our chat with Rachel and Louise, two mothers living in poverty in Northern Ireland, the minister heading up the executive anti-poverty strategy defends his plan.
Minister Gordon Lyons joins Tara and Declan in The State of Us studio as they discuss the 28-page paper which sets out the proposed route to tackling poverty over the next 10 years.
It outlines efforts already being taken by various departments to help minimise the risks of people falling into poverty in Northern Ireland, as well as reducing its impacts and ways to help people get out of poverty.
Tara and Declan put some of the criticisms the strategy has faced directly to the minister.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
A bonus episode of the State of Us after the terrorism case against Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was thrown out.
Kelly Bonner joins Declan from outside Woolwich Crown Court to bring us how the case fell apart as well as reaction from the band.
The rapper who performs under the stage name Mo Chara was charged in May after allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed organisation Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, in November 2024.
He denied the charge and has described it as political.
We examine the technicality that brought the prosecution down, and what this means for Kneecap.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Julian O’Neill joins Tara and Declan on The State of Us after new details were revealed on how the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) unlawfully used covert surveillance powers. A report has uncovered how the PSNI used journalists' phone numbers to check for any leaks of information by its officers or staff, and also revealed there were 21 unlawful uses of covert powers to attempt to uncover reporters' sources. Its author, lawyer Angus McCullough KC, said he found that the PSNI's surveillance of journalists and lawyers is not "widespread or systemic". PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said the report "rightfully highlights that we have to improve our processes, and we will". Julian, Tara and Declan take you through everything you need to know. Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Nominations for the next president of Ireland close on Wednesday.
Already there has been some controversy around this race to the Áras.
BBC NI’s new Dublin correspondent Gabija Gataveckaitė joins Declan Harvey to talk about what we can expect from this campaign.
Who are the runners and riders?
What does the president actually do? Or, perhaps more crucially, what don’t they do?
Confirmed candidates so far include Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin and Heather Humphreys.
Will Maria Steen get the required support to enter too?
Michael D Higgins' time as president of Ireland will come to an end in November.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Action, some laughs and a lot of tears are to be expected as BBC One's police drama Blue Lights returns for its "most emotive season yet".
The long-anticipated third season of the show, which follows rookie cops navigating law and order in a post-conflict Northern Ireland, is set to air from Monday 29 September.
After scooping up a Bafta award for best drama earlier this year – producer and co-creator Louise Gallagher joins Tara Mills to talk about the huge success it has been.
While the premiere of season three is a matter of weeks away, headway is already being made on season four, with filming pencilled in for February.
Will Louise give Tara any spoilers?
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
It was a case that shook the equestrian community. Now a new series explores the secret investigation that led to a murder trial.
Tara Mills speaks to Rachel Hooper and Natalie Maynes, producers from ‘Walk on Air’ films about events that led up to the death of 21-year-old showjumper Katie Simpson.
In a new documentary series, recorded over a period of years, Rachel and Natalie delve into the coercive control so many women experienced at the hands of Jonathan Creswell.
He’s the man accused of Katie’s rape and murder, and was found dead one day after going on trial.
Police initially thought Katie had taken her own life, and were it not for the tenacity of a small group of people, the case would likely have ended there.
For help and support: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Radio presenter Stuart Robinson started his broadcasting career 3 decades ago, as a wide-eyed 16 year old.
He has risen through the ranks of commercial radio and is now controller of NI’s most successful commercial radio portfolio – Cool FM, Downtown and Downtown Country.
In this interview he goes ‘behind enemy lines’ to tell Tara Mills and Declan Harvey just how real his public spats with Stephen Nolan and Barra Best are.
He also discusses why he’s critical of the BBC licence fee, and how successful the cash call has been.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
It was a story of institutional inhumanity – which, at first, many found unbelievable.
Hundreds of babies and children, buried in an unmarked mass grave, at the site of an institution for unmarried mothers near the west coast of Ireland.
St Mary’s Home operated in Tuam, County Galway, from 1925 until 1961.
A religious order ran the institution, at a time of moral taboos when there was a social stigma around pregnancies outside of marriage.
It’s 11 years since a local amateur historian uncovered evidence of the scandal – and now, an excavation has begun to try to identify the lost children.
BBC Ireland Correspondent Chris Page tells Tara Mills and Declan Harvey about his long association with this horrifying news story, and has the very latest on the excavation.
For organisations that can offer help and support visit: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Gardaí continue to search a site in Donabate, north county Dublin, for a missing child, who is presumed dead.
Since the authorities last contact with the family - five years ago - the child disappeared. He would have been aged two at the time.
The case is disturbingly similar to that of Kyran Durnin, and gardaí have renewed an appeal for information on him a year on.
The last known images of Kyran were taken in June 2022, when he was six-years-old.
He was reported missing from his home in Drogheda, County Louth, in the Republic of Ireland in August 2024.
Despite extensive and ongoing enquiries carried out by Irish police, they have been unable to locate Kyran or determine what has happened to him.
How can two boys disappear for years, and it go unnoticed?
Tara Mills and Declan Harvey speak to Eimer McAuley, a correspondent for TheJournal.ie about the latest in both cases.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Summer is over, its back to the benches for our MLAs – how are relations on the hill?
BBC NI Political Editor Enda McClafferty tell Tara Mills and Declan Harvey what’s coming up in the 18 months left of this political mandate.
Also: Why the Stormont canteen resembles an American TV drama, and Declan’s terrible taste in ties.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Tara and Declan talk to the women taking on the government over the cost of raising a family in NI. Louise McCullough and Rachel Benson are single mums, who are desperately trying to get themselves and their families out of poverty. Louise has two degrees, and is working towards her Masters qualification, she works 20 hours a week, the maximum she’s allowed to to retain her benefits. Rachel works part-time, but can’t afford to take on more hours. On The State of Us today, they give us their assessment of the long-awaited draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, which was agreed by Executive parties in May. They say there are too many barriers for them to be able to lift themselves out of the position they’ve ended up in. Almost 75 charities and anti-poverty organisations have called for the Northern Ireland Executive to withdraw the draft strategy, saying that families "deserve better". An anti-poverty strategy was first committed to by Stormont 19 years ago. In the next few weeks, we will be speaking to the Minister for Communities, the department behind the strategy, Gordon Lyons. For help and support: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Are we in the grips of a cocaine crisis? It is the most prevalent Class A drug in Northern Ireland, and there has been a dramatic increase in use according to those working on the ground.
BBC Reporter Kelly Bonner tells Tara Mills and Declan Harvey about the people injecting it 20-30 times a day, and the devastating consequences of their addiction.
Also – is Ireland the gateway for the drugs trade from South America into Europe?
And what can be done about it?
Help and support is available at: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Máire Mhic an Fhailí is the 74 year old woman who was arrested in Belfast earlier this month under the Terrorism Act.
She was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “We are all Palestine Action”.
Palestine Action became a proscribed organisation in July under the Terrorism Act, making membership of or support for the group a criminal offence.
MPs voted to proscribe the group after activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in June, spraying two Voyager aircraft with red paint and causing £7m worth of damage.
Palestine Action said it was behind the incident.
Máire tells Tara Mills and Declan Harvey about what led up to that arrest, why she feels so strongly and inextricably linked to the people of Gaza, and what she would do if she was sent to prison.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
The accuracy of weather forecasting has improved almost beyond recognition in recent years. But despite those strides, there are still gaps in public trust. On The State of Us today, Tara Mills and Declan Harvey chat to the weather team about how tricky it is to get things right. Cecilia Daly and Barra Best answer questions like: How does weather forecasting happen? Why are there weather stations in Castlederg and Katesbridge? What’s the difference between “rain” and “showers”? And how did Barra get an actual storm named after him? Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
It's been two months since scenes of hate and violence erupted on the streets of Ballymena, County Antrim – and the fallout is still evident weeks later.
Many homes remain boarded up on Clonavon Terrace, which bore the brunt of rioting described by the police as "racist thuggery".
Tara Mills and Declan Harvey revisit the street, along with the MP for the area Jim Allister.
The target of much of the aggression in June was the town's Roma (Gypsy) community and other foreign nationals. Some who fled say they are not coming back.
"Locals live here" posters, which first appeared by residents trying to protect their homes from being attacked, are still affixed to front windows on Queen Street.
For some, the eight weeks since the rioting has seen a change in Ballymena – Jim Allister said there had been "an exodus of largely Roma and some other eastern Europeans".
"It has transformed the feel in the area. There's no longer people standing around our street corners here," he told Tara Mills and Declan Harvey.
In this episode of The State of Us, the team look at the data around all of this, in a bid to find out what is really going on in Ballymena.
For organisations that offer support: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
The sight of Northern Ireland's waterways being covered in slimy, potentially toxic blue-green algae has become a regular occurrence in recent years - and 2025 is no different.
The algae has been detected almost 100 times across Northern Ireland since the start of the year, with the majority of sightings in Lough Neagh and the Lower Bann, as well as Lough Erne.
Lough Neagh, the UK's largest freshwater lake, has been blighted by large blooms of the potentially toxic algae in recent years.
With these blooms becoming a recurrent event, not just confined to summer, and scientists warning they are likely to keep happening for many years to come - how bad is the issue and what's being done about it?
From bubbles to space – Tara Mills and Declan Harvey speak to BBC NI’s Agriculture & Environment Correspondent, Louise Cullen about the problem, and how it might be solved.
Also: can you grow pineapples in NI’s climate?
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
Members of a high-profile Irish evangelical Christian family chased the DUP chairman of the Education Authority, Mervyn Storey, through a church car park in County Antrim to challenge him over gender identity issues - they claim he’s being hypocritical.
The state of our hospital waiting lists continues to be shocking… but have many of us just accepted it?
Houses in religiously mixed neighbourhoods of Northern Ireland sell for more, but what impact do nearby painted kerb stones have on the value of a property?
Tara and Declan chat about the stories that have really struck them in Northern Ireland this week.
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
The rising number of women murdered in Northern Ireland is causing concern. Why do some men kill, and what can society do to stop them? Declan and Tara speak to Michael Conroy, who delivers training for professionals in supporting the healthy personal development of boys and young men.
A mother and her two children murdered in their own home. The man suspected of killing them, their husband and father, died on Monday night.
Vanessa Whyte (45), and her children, 14-year-old James Rutledge and 13-year-old Sara Rutledge, were shot and killed on Wednesday.
Police say a triple murder and attempted suicide is one line of inquiry for detectives.
How does this community even begin to put the pieces back together after such a tragedy?
Tara and Declan discuss how the complex reporting of these cases has dramatically changed over the years.
For help and support: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline
Get in touch: thestateofus@bbc.co.uk
