The BelTel

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 createdWhat was the Boston Tapes project?What went wrong?And why have the records been sealed?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 McCullagh as 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.This podcast was amended at 10:00 am on Monday 30th March in order to correct an error. A previous version mentioned in the podcast intro that 'McNally' made a video whilst a student, when it should have said 'McCullagh' made a video as a student. 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.

UPDATE: Victims drop High Court claim against Gerry Adams over IRA bombingsFor 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.  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.

This time last year, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin was grasping an American-flag emblazoned short straw, playing second fiddle to Conor McGregor as our disgraced UFC representative took the St Patrick’s Day podium. Now that the Taoiseach has been restored to March 17 parity, he has one hell of a job on his hands. What kind of reception awaits him in Donald Trump’s Oval Office next week?  Host: Kevin Doyle Guest: Mary Regan  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Serial killer Robert Black is now the subject of Netflix documentary 'Manhunt: The Child Snatcher'. Black was a monster, an abuser and murder of little girls - he was the child snatcher that all parents feared. His first murder victim we can be certain of was nine-year-old Co Antrim child Jennifer Cardy on 12 August 1981.He was convicted of killing four young girls but is suspected of abusing and murdering many, many more.Black died in Maghaberry Prison near Belfast in January 2016. His body was cremated, and his ashes thrown into the sea.Professor Craig Jackson is Professor of Occupational Health Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Birmingham City University. He tells Ciarán Dunbar what makes a serial killer and why we are so interested in them.This podcast was originally released in January 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elon Musk has built an encyclopedia which contains countless errors about Northern Ireland and its history. Grokipedia, which was launched in October last year, now has more than six million AI generated articles, but many articles related to Northern Ireland contain major mistakes or are highly misleading. The AI encyclopedia says that Ian Paisleys paramilitary Third Force was operating under Crown authority, it says murder victims the Reavey brothers were linked to the IRA, and that the Bloody Sunday massacre was instigated by the IRA, among many other errors.  Sam McBride joined Olivia Peden.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.