The BelTel

Belfast Telegraph
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Sep 28, 2025 • 28min

Officials fear right not to send kids to school or tell state they exist could be dangerous

Northern Ireland’s education system has no idea how many children it’s responsible for and there's no legal requirement for parents to tell education authorities they have a child. Stormont doesn’t know how lots of children are being educated – or whether they’re being educated at all.  Documents show some senior Stormont officials fear these ‘missing children’ are vulnerable to “sexual exploitation”.  The Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor Sam McBride has been investigating this story. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 26, 2025 • 17min

Kneecap’s Mo Chara says ‘it was always about Gaza’ as terror case thrown out

The terrorism case against Kneecap rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh has been thrown out. The magistrate dismissed the case over a technical error. Ó hAnnaidh said the case “was always about Gaza”. The 27-year-old, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terror organisation Hezbollah in November last year. Belfast Telegraph reporter Niamh Campbell was in court.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 25, 2025 • 24min

Guinness: The Earl of Iveagh on his famous family and the drink which made their fortune

The Guinness dynasty is the subject of a new Netflix series ‘House of Guinness’. Ned Guinness, the Earl of Iveagh, is the great-great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness himself and the author of the book ‘Guinness: A family succession’. He joined Olivia Peden to talk about his family history and pints.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 23, 2025 • 28min

Notorious evangelical Christian Burke family confront the DUP over LGBT ‘support’ - why?

Two members the Burke family have confronted the education minister Paul Givan accusing him ‘promoting sodomy’ and ‘deceiving the people of Northern Ireland’. The Burkes have also confronted Edwin Poots, Mervyn Storey, and Free Presbyterian minister Roger Higginson recent weeks.  So, who are the Burkes, what have they been up to in Northern Ireland, and why are they targeting the DUP? Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Kurtis Reid and Shane Phelan.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 23, 2025 • 21min

From H-Blocks to the pulpit: how IRA gunman Mark Lenaghan became a Catholic cleric

The funeral of 65-year-old Mark Lenaghan in Castlewellan attracted a large crowd and plenty of well-wishes for the beloved local deacon, but not everyone present knew about his former life as an IRA gunman. How did Lenaghan find faith and leave the Troubles behind?Host: Tabitha Monahan Guest: Hugh Jordan   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 21, 2025 • 46min

Stephen Walker: ‘There would have been no Good Friday Agreement without David Trimble’

Sam McBride sits down with Stephen Walker who has published a biography on the Nobel Peace Prize winner, entitled ‘Peacemaker’. ‘David Trimble: Peacemaker’ is based on 100 interviews, including with many members of the Trimble family. Later Lord Trimble, he was one of the key architects of the Belfast agreement, leading the largest unionist party at the time, the UUP. Stephen Walker worked as a journalist for the BBC for 34 years. He sat down with the Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor, Sam McBride.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 18, 2025 • 21min

Border Bandit Brendan ‘B-Man’ O’Callaghan looking at jailtime over encrochat cocaine dealing

A Crossmaglen man with Republican family connections has plead guilty to drug and money laundering. The so-called ‘B-Man’, 37-year-old Brendan O’Callaghan, who has links to prominent republicans, admitted 16 charges at the last minute after denying the charges for 5 years. O’Callaghan was caught after French intelligence hacked the secret Encrochat phone network used by criminals.  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Sunday Life’s Ciaran Barnes.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 16, 2025 • 31min

No Tyrone Goldrush: Why Stormont confusion and local division mean gold worth billions might stay under the ground

There are billions of pounds worth of gold under the Sperrin Mountains in County Tyrone. A US-based company, Darlriadan Resources, wants to mine it. But local people are divided over whether the mine would benefit or harm them, some are mounting legal challenges against it. Sinn Féin is struggling with the decision and with its policy on mining. Will the gold ever be brought out of the ground and it is – who will benefit from it?  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor, Sam McBride.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 15, 2025 • 22min

‘Soldier F’ Bloody Sunday trial begins in Belfast - Nicola Tallant reports

The trial of Soldier F has begun in Belfast. The former paratrooper is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney, two of the thirteen civil rights protests shot dead on Bloody Sunday in 1972. He is also charged with five attempted murders in Derry’s Bogside area. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Sunday World’s Investigations Editor, Nicola Tallant, who was in court.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 15, 2025 • 26min

'The scientist who wasn’t there’: The incredible story of a fantasist father, was he a spy?

Michael Briggs has a famous scientist but as it turns out he had faked some of his qualifications. He also faked research that supposedly showed the safety a brand of oral contraceptives. His daughter Joanne has written a book about him - ‘The Scientist Who Wasn't There’ She joined Ciarán Dunbar to tell her incredible story and to try and answer the question, who really was her father?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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