TIME & LOCATION
About
Chair
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Panel
Senior lead presenter, BBC Northern Ireland
Tara Mills presents BBC Northern Ireland’s flagship television news programme BBC Newsline. She is also a podcast host, radio presenter and documentary maker. Her recent BBCNI Spotlight film ‘I Am Not Okay’ followed the lives of four autistic boys and their parents. It won several UK and Irish journalism and broadcasting awards. She also presents BBCNI’s election coverage and has a special interest in mental health and learning disability. She reported live for BBC Newsline from the Shankill Road area and the Falls on the day the IRA decommissioned. The programme went on to win an Irish Film and Television award. Tara has reported extensively for the BBC for almost 30 years and fronted a wide range of documentaries including Teens On The Edge, Spend It Like Stormont and ‘Tara Mills, Life After Loss'.
Investigative Journalist
Darragh MacIntyre is an investigative journalist with BBC Panorama. The Disappearance of Captain Nairac is his third time to collaborate with Alison Millar. They were awarded a BAFTA for their documentary The Shame of the Catholic Church in 2013. In 2007 Darragh made The Hunt for Robert Nairac for the BBC (with director Brendan McCourt). He has made numerous films on the Troubles including The Disappeared with Alison Millar 2014, and the BBC’s Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History in 2019. Over his career he has won a number of Royal Television Society Awards, Irish Film and Television Awards, and Celtic Media Awards.
Actor, Blue Lights
Joanne most recently filmed the part of Dr Kennedy in DEAD AND BURIED, a four part psychological thriller for BBC and Virgin Media. Joanne reprised her role as Helen McNally, one of the core cast, alongside Richard Dormer for season 2 of the TV series BLUE LIGHTS, directed by Gilles Bannier for the BBC. Joanne plays the role of Norma Sinnott alongside Cillian Murphy in the feature SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE directed by Tim Mielants; and the role of Mrs Barnes in the feature film THE WISE GUY, directed by Sam O’Mahony for Out of Orbit. Just prior she filmed alongside Letitia Wright and Josh O’Connor in the feature film AISHA, directed by Frank Berry. Further credits include the role of Donna alongside Patrick Kielty in the feature film BALLYWALTER, directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah; and the role of Merva opposite Lorcan Cranitch in STUMBLING directed by Jonathan Harden; COUNSEL directed by Declan Recks for BBC NI; Jean Allen in DAVE ALLEN AT PEACE for the BBC; COME HOME for BBC 1 directed by Andrea Harkin; THE DELINQUENT SEASON directed by Mark O’ Rowe, the RTÉ series RESISTANCE, and Conor McPherson’s PAULA, directed by Alex Holmes for the BBC.
Senior lead presenter, BBC Northern Ireland
Declan Harvey is co-presenter of the BBC’s flagship news programme in Northern Ireland, BBC Newsline. A multi award-winning broadcaster and journalist, he also fronted Radio Ulster’s drivetime news programme, Evening Extra, for four years before this year moving with Tara Mills to launch the BBC NI news podcast The State of Us. For several years Declan worked for BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat and has presented live programmes and documentaries on the BBC World Service, Radio 4 and BBC Sounds including Generation Right, Year ’21 and Did a Serial Killer Murder My Sister? Earlier this year he presented the series Banned at the BBC which has be recommissioned for Christmas 2025. His career began as a reporter in commercial radio at LBC, Capital FM and Classic FM for Global.
Actor, Blue Lights
Michael can currently be seen in the second season of Sharon Horgan’s dark comedy series BAD SISTERS for Apple TV+, BOOKWORM opposite Elijah Wood, and Channel 4’s GENERATION Z. Prior to this he featured in BLOODLANDS for BBC 2 alongside James Nesbitt, and in Prano Bailey-Bond’s debut feature CENSOR alongside Niamh Algar. He recently starred in THE CURSE S2 (Channel 4) and Hulu’s dark comedy OBITUARY. Michael can also be seen in the independent feature GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE with Lena Headey and Karen Gillan, RIALTO alongside Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, and DEAD STILL for RTE. Michael is perhaps best known for his acclaimed performance as Gal in Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST for which he won a BIFA. His other credits include starring as Benny Silver in the BBC’s LUTHER with Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson, the independent feature THE BELLY OF THE WHALE, DEATH AND NIGHTINGALES for BBC2, BIRTHMARKED, Thomas Q Napper’s JAWBONE, Ben Wheatley’s FREE FIRE alongside Brie Larson and Cillian Murphy, Amanda Sthers’ MADAME and TULIP FEVER alongside Alicia Vikander.
