The BelTel

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 from the Irish but that in fact Dublin was determined that the soldiers would never do time. Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland editor Sam McBride discovered the file at the National Archives in Kew, London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Sunday Life’s Angela Davison travelled to Liverpool to put the accusations to McDermott - she has also spoken to other members of the family. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 post-mortem examination found the cause of death was likely to be drowning. On Thursday, the jury heard members of the public present at the search ‘were angry at police’ as ‘conspiracy theories’ were ‘floating about’. Liam Tunney is covering the inquest for the Belfast Telegraph. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 to the Army Council in 1996. Another document records a former IRA man, then a member of the Workers Party telling the Government that he was told by Adams in Long Kesh that he would be prepared ‘to wade up to my knees in Protestant blood to a united Ireland’ - something Adams says he never said or believed. The Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland Editor, Sam McBride, joins Ciarán Dunbar on the BelTel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Belfast Telegraph Chief Sportswriter Steven Beacom and Chief Audience Editor Gareth Hanna. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. He had been killed by his own wife Julie and her lover, in fact they were already in custody over it. But it wasn’t a simple tale of adultery. It involved hotel sex with strangers, lies, blackmail and videotape – and included many prominent people in Fermanagh. Andrew Madden researched this sordid story for the Belfast Telegraph. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 more information.

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 criminals came into the spotlight. Host: Fionnán Sheahan Guest: Mary Wilson Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roger Casement was hanged in August 1916 for treason against the Crown. Formerly Sir Roger, his assistance to Germany during the First World Ward was undeniable and from a British point of view he was a traitor. From from an Irish nationalist point of view, he was a rebel and a hero who now took his place in history among the martyrs of republicanism and the leader of the 1916 Rising. No knight of the realm had faced treason charges for centuries, let alone be executed. His story was without precedent. A Protestant Anglo-Irish man who had been a loyal servant of the British empire, he had exposed horrific abuses of indigenous people in Africa and South America. But he then came to believe Ireland urgently needed to free itself of Britain. Who was this complex individual and how did he end up being killed by the state he had served? Casement is a subject of a new book – A Rebel And A Traitor – by Rory Carroll, the Guardian's Ireland correspondent. He joined Sam McBride on the BelTel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belfast poet, Sinéad Morrisey, was brought up in a Communist family. Hers was a childhood lived in the little world created by the party, a world apart from others and from the Troubles. It involved smoke-filled rooms, endless meetings, and dreams of a future utopia – coupled with a belief that east of the Iron Curtain, there were people already living in it. The fall of Communism in the eastern block was more than an historical event for her family – it was the end of a dream and of a way of life. Sinéad Morrisey’s new memoir is called ‘Among Communists’. She joined Ciarán Dunbar to explain the book and her story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Members of the jury in the Noah Donohoe inquest have been asked to indicate their availability for the month of May. The inquest officially began on the 19th of January and was expected to finish up in mid-March. Fourteen-year-old Noah’s body was discovered in north Belfast on the 27 of June 2020 - six days after he had gone missing. This week an anonymous witness at the inquest denied being the caller who informed police that Daryl Paul had been trying to sell Noah Donohoe’s laptop. Liam Tunney has been covering the inquest for the Belfast Telegraph. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was supposed to be an oral record of the Troubles, made by the paramilitaries, and initially the ‘Boston Tapes’ project seemed like a really good idea, albeit one which would include descriptions of violence and terror. The concept was simple – former paramilitaries would be interviewed, the tapes would then be kept in storage, and their stories only revealed after the interviewee’s deaths. But it became clear that the scheme was flawed and that the recordings were not as secret as participants assumed. Now the Belfast Telegraph can reveal that the Boston College tapes archive has been formally closed - and will remain so for 75 years from when it was first created Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter, Andrew Madden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Murderer Stephen McCullagh has been aptly described as “a monster hiding in plain sight”. A week on from his conviction there has been a lot of reaction to the the nerd-culture YouTuber’s conviction of murdering Natalie McNally. He denied the killing, but the jury unanimously found him guilty in a matter of hours. He has yet to be given his tariff, but Natalie’s family says he should never be let out. They say he is simply “too dangerous to let out on the street”. Meanwhile, the Sunday Life has revealed that a film made by McNally has a student chillingly foretold the murder and how he pretended to be one of our journalists to find out what evidence the cops had on him. The Sunday Life’s Angela Davison joins Ciarán Dunbar with some of the stories which could not be told whilst the trial was ongoing and what has emerged since McCullagh’s conviction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The jury at the inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe has now heard nine weeks of evidence – the process could last until May. This week they heard more on how police dealt with CCTV footage of the missing teenager and how his school books were found in a Belfast flat. A police officer also revealed that he was briefed before he spoke to the inquest. Liam Tunney is covering the Noah Donohoe inquest for the Belfast Telegraph. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘How I stumbled on Stormont’s new policy of extreme censorship - which means we’ll understand NI’s past less fully’. That was the stark headline on a recent comment piece from my colleague Sam McBride – the Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor. He discovered the unannounced policy whilst exploring declassified files in London - a policy which has been used to cover-up official attitudes to the Famine. Sam McBride joins Ciarán Dunbar to explain the story behind the headline. Stormont’s extreme censorship of Famine remarks – and how we unravelled it Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen McCullagh has been found guilty of murdering Lurgan woman Natalie McNally. The jury unanimously convicted 36-year-old McCullagh, of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, of killing the 32-year-old mother to be in December 2022. The four-week trial heard how McCullagh murdered Ms McNally after setting up a “false alibi” that he was livestreaming a video gaming session on YouTube. McCullagh has been given a life-sentence. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Allison Morris, who was following the trial in court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IRA leader Rory O’Connor was once a close comrade of fellow republican Michael Collins and Kevin O’Higgins - indeed he was O’Higgins best man. But just over a year later after the wedding, O’Higgins signed his friend’s death warrant. O’Connor’s execution along with Liam Mellows, Dick Barrett and Joe McKelvey, added to the bitterness of Ireland’s civil war and made O’Connor a republican martyr, albeit a forgotten one. In ‘To defend the Republic’, the first biography of O’Connor’s life, historian Gerard Shannon tells the story of this enigmatic IRA figure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For decades, Gerry Adams has denied being a member of the Provisional IRA. Now, for the first time, that claim is being challenged in an English courtroom. Three men, all victims of separate IRA bombings, have taken civil action against the former Sinn Féin leader for the symbolic sum of £1 in damages. But after his resounding libel victory over the BBC last year, how will he fare under this new and very different legal scrutiny? And what could the consequences be if the judge rules in favour of the victims? Host: Tessa Fleming, Guests: Kurtis Reid, John Downing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The man accused of murdering Natalie McNally “lied and lied again”, a barrister has told Belfast Crown Court. Delivering his closing statement in the case, prosecuting barrister Charles MacCreanor KC reminded the jury that the accused Stephen McCullagh had chosen not to give evidence to his trial. However, defence barrister John Kearney KC said the case against Stephen McCullagh is “dependent upon circumstantial evidence”. There are “troubling” aspects of the prosecution case against the man accused of murdering Natalie McNally that point “towards some other killer”, he said. 36-year-old McCullagh denies killing Natalie McNally (32), who was found dead at her home in Lurgan on December 18, 2022. The Belfast Telegraph’s Crime Correspondent Allison Morris is covering the case. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A witness says the unusual behaviour exhibited by Noah Donohoe prior to his disappearance could be associated with synthetic cannabinoids or a mental health condition. The jury at the inquest into the teenager’s death heard evidence from the toxicologists on Wednesday. Noah’s body was discovered in north Belfast on 27 June2020 - six days after the St Malachy’s College student went missing. The inquest is now in its eighth week of hearing evidence. Liam Tunney has been covering the inquest for the Belfast Telegraph. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.