Robbie Butler Health Minister: What Changes Now?
Robbie Butler Confirmed as Northern Ireland’s Health Minister: What It Means for Mental Health Robbie Butler MLA has been confirmed as Northern Ireland’s new Health Minister, a week after Mike Nesbitt resigned from the role. Robbie Butler Health Minister appointments don’t happen often mid-mandate, and this one arrived fast: Nesbitt quit on Tuesday 1
Meta social media trial: 29 states, a federal court, and a reckoning over children’s mental health
The Meta social media trial that opened this week in Oakland is the moment years of warnings finally reached a federal courtroom, and it should matter to every parent, on either side of the Atlantic. On Tuesday 18 August 2026, opening statements began in a landmark case brought by California on behalf of 29 states, […]
Children witnessing domestic abuse: the trauma that can last a lifetime
The harm done to children witnessing domestic abuse doesn’t stop when the shouting does, and new figures show more adults than ever are worried about it. The NSPCC, whose UK Helpline is based here in Belfast, has reported that contacts about a child experiencing domestic abuse have reached their highest level since records began: 8,448 […]
Grief After Suicide: Cara Hunter MLA’s Story | JustMental
Grief After Suicide: Cara Hunter MLA on Loss, Advocacy, and a System Still Under Strain This is not wellness. This is war against stigma. Grief after suicide is not something most politicians talk about publicly, let alone honestly. Cara Hunter MLA does both. In a new episode of JustMentalTalk, the SDLP MLA for East Londonderry […]
Chris Quinn NICCY Interview: NI’s Commissioner Speaks Out on a System “At a Crossroads”
JUSTMENTAL | INTERVIEW In this Chris Quinn NICCY interview, Northern Ireland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People speaks candidly about a mental health system he describes as being at a crossroads, and about what young people across Northern Ireland are actually living through right now. Chris Quinn has spent his entire career in youth work […
The NI schools behaviour review: before the consequence, understand the child
The new NI schools behaviour review, and the appointment of an independent adviser the media have dubbed a “behaviour tsar”, raises important questions we think are worth asking out loud. Education Minister Paul Givan has appointed behaviour expert Tom Bennett to lead a review of behaviour policy and practice across Northern Ireland’s schools, running from [
Childline exam stress support in demand as Northern Ireland results days arrive
The scale of Childline exam stress support tells you something we don’t say often enough: for a lot of young people, exam season is not just tough, it’s genuinely distressing. New figures from the NSPCC’s Childline service show it delivered 1,679 counselling sessions to young people across the UK about exam and revision stress in […]
PSNI mental health call-outs: 189 times to one trust’s units in a year
The scale of PSNI mental health call-outs in Northern Ireland has been laid bare again, and it lands squarely on the argument at the heart of our 107 a Day campaign. Figures released by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt in response to an Assembly Question show the PSNI was called to assist staff at inpatient mental […]
Meta Fine for Child Harm: What the $567m Ruling Means
Meta fine for child harm: a $567m ruling, and what it means for the rest of us The Meta fine for child harm handed down in New Mexico this week is being called social media’s “Big Tobacco” moment, and it is worth understanding exactly what a court has now said out loud. On Thursday, a […]
Northern Ireland Mental Health Funding: Where Is Our Plan?
Northern Ireland mental health funding: England builds 159 centres, so where is ours? The gap in Northern Ireland mental health funding has never looked starker than it did this week. On 5 August, the British government announced the biggest redesign of mental health services in a generation, for England. A £343 million plan to open […]