Coronavirus: Inside Politics to quiz politicians on response

Inside Politics is Radio Ulster's longest running programme, dating back to April 1977 when my distinguished predecessor WD Flackes profiled the then South Down MP Enoch Powell.

However, in the light of the coronavirus crisis, BBC Northern Ireland had to take some difficult decisions.

In order to consolidate the shifts our production teams must work, Richard Morgan's Inside Business programme has now shifted into Inside Politics' previous Friday evening slot.

But, when I signed off on our last edition before Easter, I promised our listeners that, like General MacArthur, we would return.

Now, preparations are well advanced for what we hope will be a valuable addition to our stable of political programmes.

From Monday we are setting off on a virtual tour of our 18 Assembly and Westminster constituencies, with the intention of including backbench MLAs and other local representatives in the dialogue about how we are responding to the current crisis.

Testing is under way for Covid-19

Hopefully, long before we finish this tour we shall already be surveying the changed landscape after the first Covid-19 wave.

Get in touch

On Inside Politics Q&A, we shall quiz the politicians about the community response they have witnessed in their own backyards.

But we would like their constituents and our listeners to join in as well, by forwarding any questions they want to raise, whether they concern the immediate very painful circumstances which confront so many of us, or the range of social and economic challenges posed by an exit strategy or recovery phase.

Given the restrictions on movement, we obviously aren't travelling to each constituency.

Public play parks have been closed

Instead we shall (hopefully) be using Zoom to contact your representatives, which should mean you will be able to watch us put your questions to the politicians on our podcast.

The first stop on our Zoom tour around Northern Ireland will be Upper Bann, which has seen debates about whether some workplaces are essential, and when parks and other council facilities should re-open.

The constituency is also home to Craigavon Area Hospital, whose brave health care workers have been very much on the front line in recent weeks.

If you have a question, either about the local situation in Upper Bann or about the wider political outlook, forward it to us on Twitter using the hashtag #bbcip or e-mail it to [e-mail].

After leaving Upper Bann we shall embark on a magical mystery tour of the 17 remaining constituencies, guided only by a random number generator (okay, it's a bingo ball machine).

Hosting from home, chatting to politicians over Zoom, using Twitter to suggest lines of questioning - it's half a world away from that first Inside Politics back in 1977.

What would the great WD Flackes have made of it? And what could possibly go wrong?