
Red Lines
The back-stop’s here? Bad puns with top political coverage from Northern Ireland. Red Lines brings you essential analysis and commentary by BBC NI’s politics team.
Latest episodes

Nov 17, 2021 • 28min
Anglo-Irish disagreements
Mark Carruthers discusses the current state of relations between the UK and the Republic with historian Diarmaid Ferriter and former Conservative Minister, Michael Portillo.

Nov 10, 2021 • 27min
State of the Union
Andrea Catherwood and Allan Little chat constitutional change in Scotland and NI

Nov 3, 2021 • 27min
Riot Grrrls
Change makers, influencers and activists who have made their mark in NI

Oct 27, 2021 • 29min
Time to catch our breath
It's time to pause, review the past few weeks & look ahead to what's coming up.

Oct 20, 2021 • 31min
Political fact and fiction
Mark Carruthers is joined by Glenn Patterson and Brian McGilloway who've written books and articles galore about the people and the politics of Ireland north and south.

Oct 13, 2021 • 30min
It's Complicated!
Mark Carruthers is joined by the BBC's former Ireland Correspondents, Mark Simpson & James Helm, plus the New Statesman's Political Correspondent, Ailbhe Rea, to discuss the challenges of reporting the politics of this place

Oct 5, 2021 • 29min
Conference calling
Mark Carruthers is joined by Gareth Gordon, Julia Langdon and former NIO Minister, Sir Richard Needham to ask whether Northern Ireland still matters to the Conserative Party.

Sep 29, 2021 • 29min
Pact Hunch
Mark & guests discuss Northern Ireland's electoral pacts of the past and present.

Sep 22, 2021 • 30min
Northern Writes
Mark & guests review how the Dublin media report on stories from & about Northern Ireland

Sep 15, 2021 • 37min
Writ and Wrong
Mark Carruthers is joined by libel lawyer Paul Tweed, the Belfast Telegraph's Sam McBride and former journalist and now Ulster Unionist MLA, Mike Nesbitt, to discuss his Private Members' Bill on updating defamation law in Northern Ireland.