The BelTel

Belfast man Colin Davidson is one of Ireland’s most celebrated painters. Queen Elizabeth II, Bono, Ed Sheeran and Seamus Heaney are among the host of famous faces to have sat for him. Yet the Belfast-born painter regards his greatest work as a series of 18 portraits, which he did for free. In his new book, titled ‘Twelve paintings: Conversations with Mark Carruthers’ the NI artist speaks to BBC Jo...

The newly appointed Irish Language Commissioner says the Irish language is not controversial and that opposition to it is “amplified” by the media. Dr Pól Deeds also said he couldn’t think of an example of language “weaponisation”. Unionist opposition to the language has long been justified as legitimate due to “weaponisation” of Irish by republicans.   Dr Deeds spoke to the BelTel’s Cia...

The long-awaited report on the activities of IRA double agent ‘Stakeknife’, Freddie Scappaticci, has now been released. The investigation, which cost close to £48 million and took eight years, has revealed new details, despite not naming Scappaticci as Stakeknife. It reveals details of security forces confirming that the Stakeknife operation probably cost more lives than it saved and establis...

Four victims of the Troubles - all believed to be victims of the IRA, remain missing. The so-called ‘Disappeared’, people murdered and secretly buried by republicans have long been searched for but the remains of Columba McVeigh, Joe Lynskey, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire have yet to be found. A new search for Seamus Maguire is planned for the s...

50 years ago, on November 29, 1975, the UDA attacked Dublin Airport, leading to the death of a baggage handler. The tragedy has been largely forgotten by the wider public over the last five decades. However, for those who still seek answers it is as pressing as ever.       Host: Kevin Doyle Guest: Brendan Hayes   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

A criminal investigation has been launched after a group of masked and armed men issued threats where they described politicians in the Newry area as “legitimate targets”. In the video, the three masked men, who are shown holding what looks like firearms, say they are members of the ‘New Republican Movement’. One of the masked men accuses local politicians of ‘flooding our communities with undocum...

People before Profit has one MLA in Stormont – Gerry Carroll. But the west Belfast man, known for his pro-Palestinian views and critiques of capitalism, has a high profile.  People before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll spoke to Ciarán Dunbar about what he thinks a socialist Ireland would look like, his views on a border poll, and his views on immigration and the far right.  Hosted on Acast. Se...

Danny Morrison was once Sinn Féin’s publicity director - well-known for the phrase ‘a ballot box in one hand and an Armalite in the other’. Now, he’s no longer involved in front-line politics and is better known as a writer. His latest work is an updated memoir entitled ‘All the Dead voices’, which was originally released in 2002.  Danny Morrison joined Ciarán Dunbar.  Hosted o...

Northern Ireland is six counties. But the province of Ulster was – and is – made up of nine counties – all including Ulster Protestants. As partition loomed, Unionists chose six counties and demographic dominance over nine counties with a much smaller protestant majority. But what if Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan remained in the UK?  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Samuel Beckton, author of ‘Th...

Julian Simmons is a Northern Ireland broadcasting legend, best known for his colourful introductions to soaps on UTV. Although continuity was axed on the Channel during covid, Julian is still adored by the public, now swapping the tv studio for DJ decks and much more. But despite his bright plans for the future, Simmons says he fears that a comet coming through earth’s solar system could put...

Burren House is a part of Northern Ireland’s prison system that many of us have never heard of. It’s a pre-release open prison – supposedly intended to prepare murderers, sex offenders and others for release back into our communities. Some of the 25 criminals held in Burren House include serial sex attacker Tom Ward and former academic Gerry O’Kane, who stabbed his wife to death in a jealous rage....

Members of a vigilante group targeting far-right activists have been blamed for pipe bomb attacks in west Belfast. Sources say the group, which calls itself the Socialist Republican Front, is leaving viable devices close to the homes of people they claim are connected to far-right organisations.   Ciarán Dunbar joined by Belfast Telegraph security correspondent, Allison Morris....

Enoch Burke and his family have been a recurring fixture in Irish media for the past three years. What began as a workplace dispute over his objection to transgenderism, has spiraled into a protracted and costly legal saga, one that has already seen him spend more than 500 days in jail for contempt of court. Now, he is set to return to Mountjoy once again - his fourth stint behind bars. It’s start...

The PSNI has is probing safeguarding failures in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It comes after the church’s moderator Trevor Gribben quit citing ‘serious and significant failings’ in safeguarding from 2009 to 2022, including concerns over a pedophile teacher who was a voluntary youth group leader in the church.  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by The Belfast Telegra...

Stormont has celebrated its first 10,000 days, but is it struggling with continuing political toxicity? As the UUP’s only mayor says she has faced extreme sexism, is politics getting rougher for women? And, the BBC say they are ‘determined’ to fight Donald Trump in court, but what next for the corporation.  To talk about the week in politics, Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Journalist and com...

Despite the protests and the anger of unionists, the Anglo-Irish Agreement endured under superseeded by the GFA. Some see it as a key factor in attracting Sinn Féin into the political process and by many as a vital factor in convincing unionism that it would have to concede to power-sharing with nationalists.   Ciarán Dunbar spoke to Professor Fergal Cochran, to Unionist commentator Alex Kane...

Unionists felt that Margaret Thatcher was someone they could trust so when she signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement giving Dublin the right to be consulted over NI, unionists felt utterly betrayed and they were outraged. The UUP leader Jim Molyneax even called it an “an evil document.” Tens of thousands of unionists took to the streets of Belfast, a day forever remembered due to the DUP lead...

The Hunger Strikes had led to a surge in support for Republicanism and in October 1984, Margaret Thatcher herself, narrowly escaped death in the Brighton bombing. Her intelligence chiefs were clear; they weren’t going to defeat the IRA by purely military and security means – she decided something had to be done. Meanwhile in Dublin, fears over the rise of Sinn Féin and frustration with a lack of p...

“I’m still working because the thieving HMRC came after me...  at the most vulnerable time in my life,” Eamonn Holmes has revealed to the BelTel.  He spoke to Ciarán Dunbar about his tax troubles, Donald Trump, working for GB News and growing up in the New Lodge area of Belfast.  The GB News presenter is currently touring Northern Ireland with his one man show, ‘This Is My...

Jonathan Walton describes himself as a ‘con-hunter’ but that’s not what he set out to be. The tv producer turned vigilante after he was scammed by con artist Marianne Smyth, the so-called ‘Queen of Con’. Over several years he had handed his supposed best friend Smyth, who claimed to be an Irish heiress, over $100,000. She was a lifelong con-artist, using a range of strategies, lies and aliase...

An east Belfast woman has been jailed after promising to donate a kidney over Facebook. Nicola Hutton reached out to Billy and Joanne Cullen over social media after Billy’s diagnosis of a serious disease. A stranger to the couple, Hutton continued to keep in contact with them to assure that she was a match and the transplant process was underway – but in reality, she had never intended to han...

Stormont Education Minister Paul Givan has been the focus of attention and anger over his visit to Israel. The UUP have lost a councillor, Linzi McLaren resigned her seat and quit the party citing concerns over Irish language policy and the absence of female voices. Plans are afoot to install street signage in Greek, Mandarin and Hebrew in Belfast – but will it actually happen? And finally, who ke...

The Fethard-on-Sea Boycott was a notorious event in Irish history. In 1957, Sheila Cloney, the Protestant wife of a Catholic farmer, fled her home with her children.  Associates of Ian Paisley hid Sheila and her children in Belfast before eventually getting them to Scotland. Sheila Cloney left the Wexford village after refusing to bow to the demands of the local Catholic clergy to e...

 The Rev Ian Paisley rose to prominence as the face of hardline unionism but the first time some would have heard of him would have been in connection with Maura Lyons. In 1956, the west Belfast teenager was smuggledto Scotland by members of the Free Presbyterian Church. She was a 15-year-old Catholic girl who converted to Free Presbyterianism, in the face of the strong objections of her...

The latest BelTel / LucidTalk polling reveals Sinn Féin keep the top spot as both the DUP and UUP see a slight boost in popularity, but the trend is worrying for Alliance. But Almost half of unionists say they would vote for Reform UK.  And as talk of a border poll refuses to go away, most people want to know what exactly the criteria for calling one would be. And finally, as Catherine Connol...