The BelTel

David Graham is a former DUP councillor, and a former advisor to education minister Peter Weir. He has been a teacher and has worked for both Linfield and Rangers. He is also a political commentator.   Recently he has been writing about the need for the unionist parties to bring in fresh talent.   He joined Ciarán Dunbar on the BelTel to discuss unionist politics, how to f...

Top civil servants had debated whether to effectively admit that Bloody Sunday was not as Lord Widgery's whitewash had claimed.  Documents uncovered in the formerly secret Kew Files reveal much debate among officials as to how they should deal with the legacy of the 14 deaths against the backdrop of the nascent peace process.    In one of these fil...

The murder of 14‑year‑old Ana Kriegel remains one of the most disturbing crimes in Irish history. In May 2018, Ana was lured from her home by a local boy. Three days later, her body was found in a derelict house – naked and violently assaulted. Two boys, just 13 years old at the time of the killing, were the youngest in the State to be tried, and convicted, of murder. Eight years on, Irish Indepen...

Five years ago, the DUP was in largest party in Northern Ireland, lurched to open civil war. The party had been led by Ian Paisley for 37 years – but an unprecedented outbreak of factional politics saw three different leaders in just 50 days.   The middle one, Edwin Poots, lasted a total of just 33 days.  To explain the backgrou...

An access hatch on the inlet to a culvert in which Noah Donohoe was found should have been locked six months previously, an inquest into his death has heard. But the jury also heard the storm drain was in good condition and had no history of unauthorised accessThe 14-year-old’s body was discovered in north Belfast on June 27, 2020, six days after he went missing. A po...

There is a very senior, well-paid civil servant, working in the higher echelons of the Northern Ireland Civil Service.  Only a handful of officials work at that level and with every one of these individuals we are entitled to know who they are, what they do and what they are paid – but not when it comes to one man. Or is it a woman? We don’t know.  The...

Sinn Féin are still top of the polls north and south – but all polls show the party has lost ground. Many commentators think Sinn Féin have lost their direction and sense of purpose.  So - has Sinn Féin really lost its mojo and what can it do about it?     Ciarán Dunbar is joined by politics lecturer and commentator David McCann to discuss what Sin...

A report has lambasted ‘institutional misogyny’ in PSNI over failings in the Katie Simpson murder investigation. Police officers on the case were responsible for a catalogue of basic failures including not preserving evidence, missing forensic opportunities, dismissing key witness statements, failing to secure phones or even photogra...

In the 1990s, DUP leader Ian Paisley railed against the peace process, denouncing it as a sellout. But newly declassified documents reveal that some of his lieutenants, including Gregory Campbell, held in fact much more moderate views that those they professed publicly. East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell has always presented himself as a hardliner&nbs...

This is a bonus episode of In Good Company with Cathy Martin, The Belfast Telegraph's new business and lifestyle podcast. Conor Ferguson is an Olympic swimmer who’s faced heartbreak by the narrowest of margins – missing out on the 2016 Rio Olympics by five hundredths of a second, and Tokyo in 2020 by four tenths.   But rather than stepping away, he’s turned...

Julia Holmes was born as Cecilia McKitterick in Castlederg, County Tyrone. After leaving Northern Ireland when she was 19, she eventually settled in Texas, where she started her career as a scam artist - using more than 40 names to dupe her targets into handing over huge sums of money. She posed as countless aliases, including a...

The inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe, which is being heard before a jury, has now heard 13 weeks of evidence.  The 14-year-old’s body was discovered in north Belfast on June 27, 2020, six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet friends.  On Monday, the jury heard from Daryl Paul, the thief convicted of stealing Noah Donohoe’s lap...

Dissident republican bombers have struck twice in recent weeks. On Saturday a bomb exploded at Dunmurry PSNI station in Belfast. The bombers used an almost identical method to those who tried to attack Lurgan police station last month. In both attacks a delivery driver was hijacked, threatened, and told to drive the bomb to its target. These attacks, claimed by the New IRA, came after a lull in vi...

Today we know that Stakeknife existed, and that he was Freddie Scappaticci.  We know that Scappaticci, at the top of the IRA unit hunting informers was himself an informer for British security forces. But prior to the story being brought to light by journalist Liam Clarke, then at the Sunday Times, the public, and indeed the IRA, had no i...

Stormont, through Invest NI, is funding a CIA-linked firm whose secretive and powerful tech is being used by Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown force - ICE  Software developed in Belfast by Nisos, a company founded by former intelligence operatives, is now being used by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. A former Nisos&n...

The Noah Donohoe inquest has been hearing evidence from Daryl Paul – the man convicted of stealing the teenager’s rucksack. It had earlier heard in evidence from Maria Nolan that claims the teenager had been attacked were based on “rumour and speculation”.  Earlier this week, the inquest heard that PSNI officers searching for Noah “never”...

A majority of those polled in from the latest Belfast Telegraph / Lucidtalk polling believe that Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA.  The former Sinn Féin leader has always denied being a member of the organisation.  However, the overwhelming majority of people across the political spectrum say the matter has no impac...

When a lone Garda decided to arrest a squad of SAS men found in the Republic of Ireland on 1976, little did he know he had sparked an international incident which would involve the Taoiseach and Prime Minister – or that it would see the Irish government interfere with the justice system. Top secret files have revealed how the PM drew up a law to let two SAS men go on the run fr...

The chief and only suspect in a Belfast satanic-style murder of a 10-year-old schoolboy is maintaining his innocence. Billy McDermott says he did not kill his little brother Brian. Brian McDermott’s dismembered remains were found in the River Lagan in 1973. Now living in England, Billy McDermott says his life has been ruined by accusations over the notorious murder of his sibling.   The...

The jury at the inquest on the death of Noah Donohoe has now heard an 11th week of evidence. Noah had been missing for six days after leaving his home in south Belfast before his body was discovered in a north Belfast culvert. On Monday, an expert witness said it is likely that the 14-year-old died close to midnight on the day he went missing, as the tide rose in the culvert. A...

Gerry Adams features heavily in now declassified documents and reveal that the British considered him, along with Martin McGuinness, to be the leaders of republicanism.  Mr Adams denies ever being a member of the IRA, but a formerly secret document includes a claim that he was re-elected t...

Rory McIlroy has joined Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in the exclusive club of men who have won the Masters back-to-back. At Augusta National on Sunday night the co. Down man produced an assured performance to win by a single shot. Can Northern Ireland’s most famous son add more majors to his CV and where does he rank in the grand pantheon of golfing greats? Keith Bailie is joined by B...

On a spring morning in June 2001 an eight-year-old girl gathers moss for her grandmother’s hanging baskets in a forest near Ballinamore in Co Leitrim. The child lets out a scream, she had discovered a body.  The remains belonged to Enniskillen businessman, Gerry McGinley and it was clear that he been murdered.&nbs...

30 years on from the violent killing of publican Tom Nevin, part two of this special podcast looks at how Nevin's wife, Catherine Nevin, emerged as the prime suspect; the murder trial and media blitz that followed; and why Ireland’s ‘Black Widow’ still fascinates us to this day.   Host: Fionnán Sheahan   Guest: Mary Wilson   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Thirty years ago, Wicklow publican Tom Nevin was shot dead as he counted the takings following a busy day at Jack White’s Inn. Initially, the incident appeared to be a robbery gone wrong, but grieving wife Catherine Nevin would eventually emerge as the prime suspect and later come to be known as ‘The Black Widow’. On the first of a two-part special, we look back at how one of Ireland’s most famous...