The State of Us

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-cre...

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 coerc...

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...

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 sti...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 th...

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 freshw...

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...

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 pu...

What really goes into our food? Tara Mills and Declan Harvey talk to the Northern Ireland business that is taking on food fraud. It’s a multi-billion pound industry, and it means that what you think you’re putting in your mouth – might be nothing of the sort. Remember the horse meat scandal? Well, that could be just the tip of the iceberg. Dr Terry McGrath and Dr Maeve Shannon from Bia Analytical...

Beth Rogers, 32 from Belfast had already started imagining the baby she and her partner would have, when a chance post on social media revealed the company she had been using had gone bust. Apricity Fertility is an IVF concierge clinic, it acted like a middleman between patients, donors and doctors. As the use of IVF increases, this type of clinic is on the rise. Because Northern Ireland has a sev...

He’s had clients like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp & Britney Spears. He’s received Xmas cards from both sides of the political divide in NI, but after representing the former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in a defamation case against the BBC earlier this year, libel lawyer Paul Tweed raises questions for the corporation. He learnt a lot from boxing promoter Barney Eastwood, and now, aged 70, the sol...

A mother who subjected her young son to repeated abuse, including forcing his head into a cat litter tray, has been sentenced to six months in prison. Ruth Anne Jennings, 53, of Oakvale Place in Maghera, was sentenced at Londonderry Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to three counts of assaulting her son, Jamie Jennings. The court was told that two of the assaults took place in 2012, with...

As we approach the end of the school year, P7 pupils are preparing for the move to big school, and as part of that, might be getting access to their own phone for the first time. The State of Us team has asked 240 kids about their online lives – the results might surprise you. It’s something parents/guardians are often unsure about, and can be a familiar dinner-table battle for families. We haven’...

Will food prices come down? Will there be changes in migration? Can we buy more plants? And what of the £200 million spent on brand new port facilities in NI after Brexit? In other words, what will the new EU/UK deal mean for Northern Ireland? Our Economics and Business Editor John Campbell give Tara Mills and Declan Harvey the lowdown on what all of this means for us. Also on today’s episode: - D...

A major upgrade to one of Northern Ireland's main roads has been thrown into doubt after a judge ruled in favour of a group of farmers, residents and landowners who challenged the legality of the project. The long-delayed A5 scheme, first announced 18 years ago, has now been knocked back three times by the courts. At the High Court in Belfast, Justice McAlinden ruled the construction should not go...

Tara Mills and Declan Harvey talk to international rugby commentator Mark Robson. He has one of the most recognisable voices in rugby broadcasting. To outsiders, he has been living the dream - travelling the world covering a sport he is passionate about. But in reality, he was suppressing a dark and distressing secret. He was abused at Bangor Grammar School by the prolific paedophile Lindsay Brown...

A County Antrim couple have been awarded £300,000 in libel damages after they sued controversial gossip website, Tattle Life. Entrepreneurs Neil and Donna Sands secured the pay-out in a defamation and harassment lawsuit over abusive comments posted on the website. The defendant companies and operator of the site, Sebastian Bond, can now be revealed after reporting restrictions were lifted at Belfa...

Police were attacked with fireworks, bottles and bricks in violent unrest across several towns on Wednesday – the third night of violent protests in Northern Ireland over immigration. It began on Monday after a peaceful protest over an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena. Two teenage boys appeared in court, speaking through a Romanian interpreter. Both deny the charges. It spread to the nearby tow...