Gary ‘Smickers’ Smith was Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair’s deputy on the Shankill. As a UFF hitman, he was involved in over 20 sectarian murders. Smith lived in exile in Scotland upon his release from the Maze prison. Last year he was convicted of sexual communications with a 12-year-old boy – he narrowly avoided jail. He died at the start of this month aged 60. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Sunday World Reporter Hugh Jordan.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Say nothing’ focuses on the lives of IRA members Marian and Dolours Price, Brendan ‘The Dark’ Hughes, and their interactions with future Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Each episode features a denial from Adams that he had any involvement with the IRA. The murder of Jean McConville is a major part of the series - along with the disappearances of Kevin McKee, Seamus Wright, and Joe Lynskey.  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter Kurtis Reid, who has reviewed the show, and Allison Morris, who features in the final episode, to talk about her real-life encounter with Dolours Price.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Ruthless. Psychopath. Dangerous.” These are just some of the words used to describe Robbie Lawlor, a formerly leading figure in the notorious Drogheda feud. Crimeworld's Nicolla Tallant discusses her new book Web of Betrayal and podcast series Double Cross – The Murder of Robbie Lawlor, to shed new light on the chaos and violence that consumed Drogheda leading to Lawlor’s death in Ardoyne in April 2020. Host; Tessa Flemming, Guest; Nicola Tallant Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Under boxing legend Barry McGuigan’s guidance Carl Frampton won world titles in 2014 and 2016. However, their relationship fell apart in a legal battle over fight profits, leading to a £6 million lawsuit. As McGuigan enters the “I’m a Celebrity” jungle, Ciarán Dunbar is joined by boxing Journalist David Mohan and reporter Niamh Campbell to unpack the rise, fall, and aftermath of the fallout.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Incoming US Vice President JD Vance is a self-professed ‘Scots-Irish Hillbilly’. He first made waves in US politics with his best selling memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ on his poor upbringing, which was later adapted into a film. How did JD Vance get from the Applachians to the White house, what does he have to do with Ulster Scots, and how important is the Ulster Scots community in the US? Ciarán Dunbar is joined by director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin, Professor Liam Kennedy.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Martin O’Hagan was a former IRA prisoner who eventually rejected violence and became an investigative reporter with the Sunday World. He was murdered by the LVF in Lurgan on 28th of September 2001. No-one has ever been convicted of the killing. The National Union of Journalists wants an independent inquiry into the killing and the subsequent investigation into it.  Ciarán Dunbar is by joined by Anton McCabe, Seamus Dooley, and by Jim McDowell, Martin O’Hagan’s editor at the Sunday World. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Belfast Telegraph’s political editor Suzanne Breen joins Ciarán Dunbar with her analysis of Belfast Telegraph’s LucidTalk polling, including a recent dip in support for Michelle O’Neill among recent Sinn Féin controversies and Unionist support for DUP ministers’ meetings with Loyalist paramilitary representatives.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Police Ombudsman says the PSNI investigation into the death of Katie Simpson was “flawed and failed her family”. The 21-year-old died in hospital a week after an incident where her sister’s partner, Jonathan Creswell, claimed to have found her mid-suicide attempt. In reality, he had repeatedly attacked her. Police failed to question Katie’s death, despite Creswell’s violent history and physical signs of abuse on her body. He was later charged with her murder but took his life one day into the trial earlier this year. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the making of a film ironically titled ‘A Landscape of Lies’, Newry born actress Aoife Madden was joined by a wealthy Iraqi businessman to try their hand at making it on the big screen. But what appeared as a lifelong dream was really all about conning investors and the tax man out of millions. Madden (the niece of Sinn Fein Finance minister Conor Murphy) was part of a team which scammed HMRC £2.8 million to produce a movie which she falsely promised to have a star-studded cast. Kurtis Reid joins Ciarán Dunbar.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ex-Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle have been sentenced to nine months in custody for child sex offences. In one incident, he believed he was chatting online to a 12-year-old girl, who was actually a police decoy. The 42-year-old previously pleaded guilty to 14 charges. The case was one of a series of controversies which rocked Sinn Féin in recent months. Andrew Madden reports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.