Stormont Sources

In this episode of the Stormont Sources podcast David McCann, Tim Cairns, and Michael McKernan discuss the recent £400 million loan from Westminster to Stormont, the implications of this financial aid, and the ongoing political turmoil surrounding Keir Starmer's leadership in the UK. They also address listener questions regarding the potential for a united unionist party and the future of Northern Ireland's political landscape amidst calls for electoral reform and discussions on partition.

🎧 Stormont Sources takes you inside Stormont and the decisions shaping Northern Ireland.

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Two years after devolution returned, has the Stormont Executive actually delivered for Northern Ireland?
David McCann is joined by former Special Advisers Tim Cairns (DUP) and Michael McKernan (SDLP) to assess the record of the O’Neill–Pengelly Executive — from childcare and health waiting lists to major project delays, civil service power, and whether Stormont ministers are really in control.
They debate:
Has the Stormont Executive achieved anything significant?
Why major Northern Ireland projects keep stalling
Are civil servants running departments instead of ministers?
Is Stormont about to rush bad legislation before the next election?
Why the political tone at Stormont is deteriorating
The controversial suspension of TUV MLA Timothy Gaston
Did the Assembly overreact — or is political conduct getting worse?
With the next Assembly election approaching, is Stormont finally finding its footing — or drifting again?
PLUS: Inside discussion on how policy really gets made behind the scenes in Northern Ireland departments.
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In this episode of Stormont Sources, David McCann, Michael McKernan and Tim Cairns analyse the two stories dominating Stormont this week — from a revealing LucidTalk poll to the political fallout over Gordon Lyon's controversial Facebook post.

- The LucidTalk poll explained: winners, losers and warning signs
- Why Alliance and the SDLP are fighting
- What Jon Burrows’ leadership means for the Ulster Unionist Party
- Has the Is pre-election phase already begun at Stormant?
- And did Gordon Lyons' Facebook post really cross the line?
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Is Stormont broken — or can it still be fixed?
In this episode of Stormont Sources, Alliance MLA for South Belfast Kate Nicholl delivers one of the most candid insider accounts yet of life inside the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Kate reflects on:
Entering Stormont during collapse
Balancing politics, motherhood, and public service
Why Assembly politics feels “nasty” and directionless
The toll dysfunction takes on public trust
Why committees work — but the Chamber often doesn’t
Structural reform, data-driven policy, and long-term thinking
Whether she will run again in the next Assembly election
We also debate:
🔹 Unionist Unity — can the DUP, UUP and TUV really cooperate?
🔹 Gavin Robinson’s olive branch to new UUP leader John Burrows
🔹 Whether a single unionist Westminster party is realistic
🔹 Succession planning inside the DUP
🔹 Why Stormont struggles to deliver legislation
🔹 Listener questions on committees, scrutiny and reform
With David McCann, Tim Cairns (former DUP Special Adviser), and Michael McKernan (former SDLP Special Adviser), this episode goes deep inside the personalities, structures and failures shaping Northern Ireland politics.
📌 Stormont Sources is Northern Ireland’s most-listened-to political panel podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Stormont Sources, David McCann and former special advisers Tim Cairns and Michael McKernan break down the biggest political stories at Stormont.

🎙️ In this episode:
Is Jon Burrows set to become UUP leader unopposed?
Would a UUP leadership contest help or harm unionism?
Is so-called “liberal unionism” finished in Northern Ireland?
Can John O’Dowd’s multi-year Stormont budget survive executive opposition?
Are cuts to health and education unavoidable?
Should the Ulster Banner be replaced at the Commonwealth Games?

We unpack the real power struggles inside the Ulster Unionist Party, the growing budget crisis at Stormont, and why symbols and flags still dominate politics in Northern Ireland in 2026.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.