BBC Northern Ireland unveils plans for General Election coverage

Published: 16 May 2017

Reporters will be at every count to bring our listeners and viewers up to date coverage as the local votes are counted. We'll have political reaction and analysis on radio, television and BBC News NI Online as well as audience reaction through text and social media.
— Kathleen Carragher, Head of BBC News NI

BBC Northern Ireland has announced its line-up of programming across television, radio and digital for the General Election 2017 campaign including through-the-night results coverage.

Over the next four weeks, BBC Northern Ireland will offer the electorate in depth analysis, expert opinion and the views from all the main protagonists to provide a clear picture of the policies and manifestos of the political parties locally. There will also be a range of opportunities for the public to have their voice heard during the campaign and put their concerns, views and opinions to those standing for election.

Kathleen Carragher, Head of BBC News NI, says: “This General Election comes after the recent Assembly election and BBC News NI is planning another comprehensive round up of all the news and results across our services. Reporters will be at every count to bring our listeners and viewers up to date coverage as the local votes are counted. We'll have political reaction and analysis on radio, television and BBC News NI Online as well as audience reaction through text and social media. And of course we'll also be making sure that the NI audience is kept up to date with picture across the rest of the UK.”

Television

In the countdown to election night:

On BBC One Northern Ireland, The View, presented by Mark Carruthers, has interviewed Sinn Fein Leader Michelle O’Neill. DUP Leader Arlene Foster will be interviewed on 18 May. There will also be a constituency debate on Thursday 1 June from St George’s Market in South Belfast.
Sunday Politics will feature interviews with senior figures from the political parties.
BBC Newsline will be profiling the key constituencies and providing regular election round-ups and all the news from the campaign trail.
The Leaders’ Debate, hosted by Noel Thompson, will be broadcast on BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Parliament on Tuesday 6 June 9-10pm. Following the debate, BBC Newsline at 10.40pm will be extended to include reaction to the debate. The Leaders’ Debate will also be broadcast at a later time on the BBC News Channel.
Newsnight comes from Northern Ireland on Wednesday 17 May.
Question Time, presented by David Dimbleby will broadcast from Belfast on BBC One on 25 May at 10.45pm.

On election night:

On election night on Thursday 8 June, Mark Carruthers, Tara Mills and Political Editor Mark Devenport will be live on BBC One NI from 9.55pm through to 8am the following morning. This election special will have reporters live from every count centre in Northern Ireland, covering the key developments in all 18 constituencies throughout the night. Politicians and political experts will join our presenters with commentary and analysis.

BBC Radio Ulster

In the countdown to election night:

Good Morning Ulster and Evening Extra will deliver the latest election news, while Good Morning Ulster will be live from Fermanagh South Tyrone on 25 May and the North Antrim constituency on 1 June.
The Nolan Show, every Monday-Friday at 9am, will see Stephen Nolan hosting debates around the big election issues with leading politicians in his own distinctive style.
On Talkback, every Monday-Friday at 12noon, phone-ins with the party leaders will provide the public with the opportunity to have their say and ask questions on the issues that matter to them. The programme will also visit South Antrim, Upper Bann and the North Belfast constituencies to give people there an opportunity to discuss the issues that matter to them most.
Evening Extra at 5pm every Monday-Friday will look at each of the larger political parties’ manifesto launches.
On Inside Politics, every Friday at 6pm, our Political Editor Mark Devenport will hear from the party leaders. Repeated every Saturday at 1.35pm.

On election night:

On Thursday 8 June, William Crawley and Karen Patterson will present an election special from the moment the polls close at 10pm until the final Northern Ireland result comes in. They will have live updates from reporters at every count and will be joined by analysts and political insiders to discuss the developing picture in Northern Ireland.
Then, on Friday 9 June from 6am, Good Morning Ulster with Noel Thompson and Chris Buckler will have full reaction from politicians and the public to the results in Northern Ireland and right across the UK.

Digital

Each constituency will have its own live page, bringing the latest news from the campaign and providing live updates on the election count throughout the night.
There will be a full results service on the BBC Northern Ireland News website on election night, and updates across BBC social media accounts.