On air: Staring into the abyss?

Hello I’m Stephen Nolan. Today I’ve been asked to present World Have Your Say from my home town of Belfast. On my phone-in radio programme that went out on BBC Ulster today, I listened to Angela the wife of a police officer who told me how her son clung to her husband terrified he would be shot, begging him not to go to work. She echoed the fear and shock for many in our province that dissident factions have murdered two soldiers and one police officer in the last few days.

Back to the troubles?

As I write Shaimaa is grabbing our technical equipment and heading to the airport for tomorrow’s special programme live from Belfast. In the last 48 hours 2 soldiers and a policeman have been shot dead in two separate incidents. The first murders of security forces in more than a decade.

The programme will be hosted by the Sony Award winning presenter Stephen Nolan, from an as yet undecided location. He’s born and bred in Belfast and presents radio and TV programmes on BBC Radio Ulster and our sister station here in the UK BBC Radio Five Live. There is, frankly, no-one better to illustrate to the world what the mood is like in Northern Ireland at the moment.