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The State of Us

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Latest episodes

  • How we make court podcasts

    October 22, 2026 · 12 min

    As a preview to The State of Us live show at the Belfast Media Festival in November Tara Mills and Declan Harvey take an in-depth look at the popularity of court podcasts. Why are people so fascinated with the detail from inside trials and…

  • 11. Provisional IRA & police notes

    October 20, 2026 · 12 min

    The outcome of the most recent legal challenge of the decisions on the Drumcree march will be revealed next week. Today, lawyers for Garvaghy Road residents said they should not be conflated with dissident republicans. The PSNI’s barrister…

  • 9. ‘Seismic’ court ruling

    October 20, 2026 · 17 min

    Garvaghy Road residents lost their bid to challenge the Parades Commission's decision in the Court of Appeal today. What arguments were made? Why did the right to march win out? And what does this ruling mean for other Orange Order parades…

  • 10. Threats from paramilitaries

    October 19, 2026 · 17 min

    Police intelligence found dissident republicans may have mounted gun attacks on officers had they cleared a path for a parade on the Garvaghy Road. Loyalist paramilitaries were also "depicting signs of frustration". The intelligence was…

  • 22. The sentencing of Jeffrey Donaldson

    October 15, 2026 · 29 min

    A special programme from The State of Us podcast. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey report on the fifteen year prison sentence handed down to Jeffrey Donaldson for child sex abuse. The former DUP leader was convicted in June of rape, gross…

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  • 8. Bryant bans parade

    October 10, 2026 · 15 min

    The Secretary of State  says his decision to ban the Orange Order’s Drumcree parade was taken in the best interests of peace. His action came after an agreement couldn’t be reached between the Portadown District Lodge and the Garvaghy Road…

  • Trial of the facts: A survivor's story

    October 7, 2026 · 16 min

    Eleanor Donaldson’s trial of the facts earlier this year, as part of her husband Jeffrey Donaldon’s sex abuse case, brought a complicated legal process into the headlines. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey explain in detail what a trial of the…

  • 7. Back in court

    October 5, 2026 · 13 min

    The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in a bid by Garvaghy Road residents to challenge a decision to allow a controversial Orange Order parade down the predominantly nationalist road. Three judges listened to almost four hours of legal…

  • 6. The new legal battle lines

    September 30, 2026 · 14 min

    As the Garvaghy Road residents prepare to head back to the Court of Appeal on Friday we learn more about what police told the Parades Commission before its determination. Tara Mills and Declan Harvey discuss the latest twists in the…

  • 5. Was the law broken?

    September 29, 2026 · 15 min

    First Minister Michelle O’Neill has been reported to the police by the Orange Order for attending a protest blocking the Garvaghy Road. What is the law on ‘spontaneous’ protests?

  • 4. Rules v Reality

    September 28, 2026 · 17 min

    What are the rules around marching and policing. How do they play out in reality, do they apply to everyone and who enforces them? Tara Mills and Declan Harvey shed more light on the standoff at Drumcree.

  • 3. Inside the court battle

    September 27, 2026 · 15 min

    How the courts gave the Drumcree march the go ahead. After the Parades Commission’s decision to allow the march, Garvaghy Rd residents and the Portadown Orange Order took their dispute to court. An overnight 15-hour legal battle ensued.

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About the show

Tara Mills and Declan Harvey deliver the detail on news stories in a BBC NI podcast.