The BelTel

t’s fight week, and Conor McGregor has come out swinging.   ‘The Notorious’ finally steps back into a UFC octagon this weekend for a main event match-up, and while some are questioning his physical prowess, his microphone game remains as brash as ever.   Sat in front of the media once more, McGregor espoused his divine beliefs, proclaimed his innocence and once again weighed in...

Summer has begun, and once again, controversies continue to surround bonfire season.  A man has been arrested over the erection of a replica of a mosque on top of a bonfire in Moygashel with a loyalist source in the area warning that any attempt to move in on the bonfire will result in a ‘stand-off’.  Paramilitary flags remain flying on streets and other bonfires across Northern Ireland...

Jeffrey Donaldson looks set to be investigated again after a further allegation of sexual assault on a woman in the DUP offices at Westminster. The young woman at the heart of the allegations says that the former DUP leader tried to get her to drink vodka shots in his office, that she refused to do, before he allegedly tried to kiss her on the mouth and put his hand up her skirt. The DUP has commi...

The trial for the murder of father-of-two John George is expected to begin in January 2027. The remaining suspect in the case, Newtownabbey man Johnny Smyth, is in a Spanish jail awaiting trial. A man who was occupying the villa where John George was last seen was stabbed in Lisburn City Centre last week - after previously suffering a knife attack in spain last year. Meanwhile, footage has emerged...

The Noah Donohoe inquest has been adjourned until later in the year following an “unprecedented” late-night sitting. Jurors were sent out on Tuesday to begin discussions about their verdict and had been deliberating for almost 25 hours.  The jury of eight men and two women were asked to deliver a verdict on teen’s death, and were asked to cover “what police knew, when they knew it a...

In 1996, Peter Lavery's life changed overnight. The Short Strand man was earning £300 a week driving buses when he became one of Northern Ireland's biggest ever lottery winners, scooping up a £10.2 million. Nearly 30 years later, he's one of Belfast's best-known businessmen.  Today, he's the founder of Titanic Distillers, bringing whiskey production back to the city for the first ti...

Two decades ago, a senior PSNI detective who had come from MI5 headquarters in London saw something he couldn’t believe – DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson entering a gay sauna. That story, which was revealed last week, has fed into speculation around what the police and intelligence services knew about Jeffrey Donaldson’s behaviour.  It has now become clear that police were aware of the far more seri...

Jeffrey Donaldson was an “unmitigated liar” and was living a double life while working in Westminster – according to former DUP MLA Jim Wells. In the days following Jeffrey Donaldson’s guilty verdict for child sex offences, more information has arisen about the disgraced MPs personal life – including affairs, the use of gay saunas, a...

Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots has performed a massive U-turn on a strange decision which has caused unusual controversy around Stormont. Last month, Mr Poots blocked MLAs from discussing a proposal which survivors of abuse wanted to become law. The episode was extraordinary - because a large majority of MLAs not only wanted to discuss the proposal, but to vote for it to become law. Mr Poots has now...

Throughout the trial of Jeffrey Donaldson, his work for what he called “the local MP” was referenced in court. That MP was Enoch Powell – one of the most controversial British politicians of the 20th century. Donaldson served as Powell’s election agent in the mid-80s. Powell, who passed away in 1998, had been accused of being a paedophile, wit...

Jeffrey Donaldson has begun his new life in Maghaberry Prison. Donaldson and his wife, Eleanor, are set to be stripped of their honours. The former MP and DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson was found guilty of 18 child sex offences on Monday - including one count of rape.     The 63-year-old had pleaded not guilty, but the jury of seven men and five considered its verdicts for...

Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of 18 historical sex offences, including one count of rape, 13 of indecent assault and four of gross indecency. The offences were against two women when they were children. His wife Eleanor Donaldson has been found to have committed the acts relating to offences of aiding and abetting following a trial of the facts.  The leaders of the UUP and TUV immed...

Jeffrey Donaldson has been found guilty of all charges – the judge said prison is “inevitable”.    A jury of seven men and five women had considered its verdicts for more than nine hours over two days, and reached a verdict just after lunch on Monday.     The 63-year-old former MP had pleaded not guilty to 18 offences including one count of rape.    His wife Elea...

Another British Prime Minister is heading for the exit. Just days after insisting he would stay and fight, Keir Starmer has announced his resignation, bringing a sorry end to a premiership that lasted just two years. With his only serious rival out of the running, Andy Burnham now appears to have a clear path to Downing Street. Enda Brady joins Fionnan Sheahan to discuss how Burnham could approach...

Katie Simpson was a talented showjumper whose short adult life centred around the equine industry she'd grown up in. So, when first responders collected her, unconscious and not breathing, from the care of Jonathan Creswell, who would eventually be charged with her murder, police initially believed his claim that he'd found her hanging at home. Creswell died by suicide in the early days of his tri...

Noah Donohoe’s remains were found in a storm drain in north Belfast on June 27, 2020.    The 14-year-old had gone missing six days earlier.     A post-mortem examination found that the likely cause of death was drowning.    The inquest into his death, which is being heard before a jury, is in its 20th week.    The jury has now heard from Detective Chief...

Jeffrey Donaldson’s trial is nearing its end. The court has now heard the closing arguments – all that remains is for the judge to give directions to the jury. On Wednesday, Donaldson’s barrister told the jury the complainants were “not sufficiently reliable enough to drive you to a sure conclusion that he is guilty”. 63-year-old Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged off...

Belfast Telegraph’s Sam McBride went to East Belfast to ask people blocking a road – albeit peacefully – why they were protesting. That led to him being assaulted, challenged to a fight, intimidated and sworn at.  The fallout from last week’s riots continues with 35 arrests, and 23 people charged.  Police have described the events as “inexcusable lawlessness”.  Sam McBride joined Ci...

A prosecution barrister has told a jury that the two complainants in the case against Jeffrey Donaldson had ‘No reason to lie’. But Jeffrey Donaldson’s barrister has told the jury to look at evidence ‘dispassionately’, and that “When all is said and done, it is their word against his word”. Rosemary Walsh KC, for the prosecution, told the jury in Newry Crown Court that Jeffrey Donaldson’...

His killing shocked Ireland, cast a shadow over the peace process, and left a family searching for justice. Fionnán Sheahan and John Downing look back at the killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, the political fallout, and why the case remains open three decades later. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has now been cross-examined by the prosecution in Newry Crown Court where he is on trial over 18 alleged offences. He has plead not guilty to charges including rape and allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency. Both complainants alleged they were abused as children. His wife, Lady Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road in Dromore, denies several charges of aiding...

The inquest into the death of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe has now heard its 19th week of evidence. The inquest has now heard from mental health experts - one said it ‘feels like there is so much we don’t know about this case’. But the experts do agree that Noah is “unlikely to have died by suicide”. They also agreed that Jordan Peterson’s book ‘12 Rules For Life’ would have had an “influence” on Noah...

Jeffrey Donaldson has denied raping a seven-year-old child, under cross-examination, saying “it simply didn’t happen”. The former MP spent Thursday on the witness stand in Newry Crown Court. During the questioning, he admitted having an affair. Mr Donaldson is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault. The sixty-three-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the 18 al...

Violence sparked by a knife attack in Belfast continues. A Sudanese man has been charged over that incident.  Twelve police officers have been injured as they confront rioters and attempts to target minorities. The PSNI deployed a water cannon in Newtownabbey as they were pelted with bricks.  Meanwhile a health trusts says it is ‘horrified’ after a nurse ‘with different skin co...

Northern Ireland has seen serious race riots for the third year in a row. Masked men staged violent protests in number of areas, but the trouble was concentrated in the greater Belfast area, with homes set alight off the Crumlin Road and in east Belfast. A Glider bus was set alight on the Newtownards Road and a police car was burned in Portadown.  The disorder followed an attempted murder inv...