The BelTel

DUP leader Gavin Robinson says Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly will quit joint engagements with First Minister Michelle O’Neill - but he won’t be pulling her out of the executive. The DUP's party officers met on Thursday to discuss their options. Before the meeting, Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart published a letter to the party making it clear – that if it didn't pull Emma Little-Pengelly out of the executive, she would take her "own course". Lockhart insists that Michelle O’Neill must be removed from office over Sinn Féin's part in the Drumcree protests, but the party leader has now stopped short of that. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s Political Editor Suzanne Breen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Incidents of violent drug-debt intimidation are rising in Ireland – and the methods are becoming more concerning and elaborate. Brutal enforcers are now using 'disappearing' video technology on social media platforms to capture and distribute graphic footage of torture. The targeted aggression goes beyond those allegedly in arrears, with innocent friends and family members increasingly caught up in the cruel crossfire. What are the gardaí doing about it? Is there a class issue at play? And what about the incidents we're not hearing about? Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Irish Independent Southern Correspondent Ralph Riegel to examine a terrifying new trend in Ireland's underworld. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A judge has dismissed an Orange Order against the Secretary of State’s decision to ban the Drumcree parade from going down the Garvaghy Road. But Mr Justice Scoffield said those against the march should take “no particular joy in the outcome”. He said that a lawful decision-making process has established the lodge’s right to parade in law. He also told the court that Sir Chris Bryant’s decision was lawful but highly regrettable that it happened in the circumstances it did. And he threw some shade on nationalist protesters saying, “the law does not apply only when you agree with it”. Ciarán Dunbar was joined by Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart has been to the forefront of Northern Ireland's politics ever since the re-emergence of the Drumcree Parade issue. The DUP-woman has stridently defended the rights of Orangemen to march down the Garvaghy Road in the face of nationalist opposition. She has been clear - the DUP must get Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill out of power over her actions in the Garvaghy protest. The problem is, the party leader Gavin Robinson disagrees – so what happens next? Who is Carla Lockhart, what are her options, and how does this affect unionism? Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Professor Jon Tonge and by Belfast Telegraph reporters Claire Dickson and Andrew Madden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeffrey Donaldson was doing paid work for the ministry of defence in Africa even as acute political turmoil was engulfing his party at home in Northern Ireland. Why was the then DUP leader undertaking sensitive work in dictator-led Cameroon just a week after he himself collapsed Stormont in 2022? Why was he helping sell arms in Egypt alongside a British general? Why did a special forces officer say he’d worked with Donaldson before? Profound political questions remain over who all the now convicted paedophile was working for – alongside concerns about whether he had access to children in developing countries. Sam McBride joined Ciarán Dunbar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Metropolitan Police in London are investigating Jeffrey Donaldson over a rape allegation It is alleged to have happened in the former MP's Westminster office. Donaldson is currently serving a prison sentence in Maghaberry for 18 counts of child sex abuse, including the rape of a child. The former DUP leader Donaldson was sentenced last week to 15 years but will serve just half of that term in prison. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Offers made by Portadown District to allow Orangemen to walk the Garvaghy Road have been revealed in court – including a 4AM march, accompanied by a residents’ protest. The court has finished hearing submissions during the legal challenge to the Secretary of State’s ban on the Drumcree parade, with Mr Justice Scoffield due to deliver his judgement next week. On Monday the court heard the security risks that were taken into account, with it being “almost certain” that dissident republicans had attended the protest, and “possible” that they had access to firearms. Olivia Peden is joined by Allison Morris who was in court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Perforated Ulster, Give My Head Peace, and The Long and the Short of it, all produced by the Hole in the Wall gang are being axed by the BBC. The Blame Game has also been culled. The BBC is making major cuts across the corporation as budget cuts take hold. BBC bosses say they have to make difficult decisions – but the cuts mean there will be no more local comedy on our screens. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Tim McGarry and Damon Quinn and Michael McDowell from the Hole in the Wall Gang. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Burkes are back, but this time it's not Enoch grabbing the headlines, it's his sister Ammi. In 2019, Ammi Burke was dismissed from her role at one of Ireland’s most prestigious law firms, Arthur Cox, after just over three years with the company. Seven years, multiple legal battles and countless court appearances later, Ms Burke wants her job back. She and her former employer are facing off at the Workplace Relations Commission. So, what exactly happened between the two sides? And why is a dispute that began years ago still rumbling on in court today? Tessa Fleming is joined by court reporter Seán McCárthaigh as Ammi Burke takes on her old employer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The PSNI has released the audio statements of Jeffrey Donaldson’s victims, Victim A and Victim B. Their voices have been artificially generated to protect the victims’ identity. On Thursday, the former DUP leader was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of 18 charges of child sex abuse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeffrey Donaldson received a 15 year sentence in prison for his crimes. He was given 11 years for rape against Victim B and four years for all offences against Victim A, to be served consecutively. The former MP and ex-DUP leader was sentenced in Newry Courthouse on Thursday morning. However, later on Thursday after the Lady Chief Justice confirmed Donaldson will actually walk free in seven-and-a-half years. That is because the crimes were committed before the law changed in 2008, so he will automatically be entitled to 50pc remission of his sentence. He was found guilty of 18 child sex abuse charges, including rape, in June. Donaldson is trying to win an appeal, and his denials were an aggravating factor in the sentencing. However, as it stands, the 63-year-old will emerge from prison as a 78-year-old pensioner. Ciarán Dunbar spoke to Allison Morris outside Newry Crown Court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was in April 1992 when Patrick 'Patsy' O'Sullivan called into his brother Jerry's home like it was any other day, but it’s a day that will forever remain etched in Jerry’s memory. Patrick went missing from his home in Co Kerry that year, and despite extensive searches and emotional appeals, efforts to find him proved fruitless. It would take the O'Sullivan family 34 years to find out the truth. Tessa Fleming is joined by Kerryman journalist Sinead Kelleher and by Jerry O'Sullivan, Patsy’s brother, to discuss his disappearance and how they eventually found out what happened to him. This episode of The BelTel was produced by our sister podcast, The Indo Daily. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The parading crisis in Portadown seems over on the ground, but it is very much alive in the courts, on the airwaves, and in politics. The Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Bryant stepped in on Friday to ban the Portadown Orange lodge from marching down the Garvaghy Road, now the Orange Order is challenging that decision in the courts. On Monday afternoon, the Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge from Garvaghy residents to the Parades Commission’s decision to allow the parade. In Stormont, First Minister Michelle O’Neill will face a confidence motion after taking part in a protest backing the Garvaghy Road residents, while the TUV demands the DUP take Emma Little-Pengelly out of the Executive. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The St Andrews Agreement was signed twenty years ago on 13 October 2006. Officially. it just amended the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement, but it did bring about some profound changes in Northern Ireland’s politics. It saw the DUP and Ian Paisley signing up to the peace process. Sinn Féin bought into policing, agreeing to work with the PSNI; the DUP agreed to go into government with them. The two parties have dominated Stormont politics ever since. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by political commentator David McCann. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Northern Ireland’s Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir interviewed by Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Editor Sam McBride, discussing how what he says has been a ‘catastrophic’ agricultural policy went disastrously wrong in the race for cheap meat... and whether he is inadvertently embedding what he’s seeking to reverse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In recent weeks, the 2020 French hack into the secret gangster phone network Encrochat has continued to see Northern Ireland drug dealers sent to Maghaberry. Multiple prison sentences have been handed down to some significant figures from Northern Ireland’s criminal world. Gangsters like ‘cute hur’, ‘mint wind’ and ‘ultra gold’ are just some of those who went down after the notorious platform spilled its secrets. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s crime correspondent Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The stand-off between the Drumcree Orange men and the Garvaghy residents continues. In Belfast on Monday – a court reserved judgment on the residents’ renewed application to stop the march. The march – and the protest has sharply divided our politicians. Some fear real damage is being done to community relations. And in other news the SDLP in Armagh has seen fit to dump its siting MLA – Justin McNulty – why? Ciarán Dunbar joined by our political editor, Suzanne Breen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

He was once known as the Right Honourable Sir Jeffrey Donaldson but is now known as inmate number E5032. Donaldson once proudly walked the corridors of Westminster, ate in fancy restaurants, and commanded media attention. But now he spends his days behind bars in Maghaberry, reading, doing jigsaws and doing art. The home in Dromore, in which he lived in with wife Eleanor, who was found to have aided and abetting child sexual abuse, has appeared on the market for a modest £650,000. Donaldson was convicted of 18 charges concerning child sexual abuse in June. Prosecution lawyers want him to serve at least ten years in prison. To talk about Donaldson’s new life, Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast. Telegraph’s Kurtis Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A fearless investigative reporter who exposed the criminal underworld behind Northern Ireland’s paramilitaries, O’Hagan had made dangerous enemies on both sides, but no one has ever been convicted of his murder. Joining Fionnán Sheehan is Sunday World Northern editor Richard Sullivan and Irish Independent special correspondent Paul Williams, as they remember their friend and colleague and examine why, 25 years on, his killing remains unsolved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The standoff between the Orangemen on Drumcree and the residents of the Garvaghy Road continues in Portadown. Negotiations involving the Secretary of State Chris Bryant, the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents have so far failed to reach an agreement. Garvaghy Road residents' spokesman Breandán Mac Cionnaith, confirmed on Wednesday that there was a document on the table. However, both Jamie Bryson and Carla Lockhart said the Portadown district won’t be accepting any deal that sees them walk away from their right to parade down the Garvaghy Road. Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister Michelle O’Neill were back on the Garvaghy road with residents on Wednesday – with the First Minister saying that standing on the road with residents on Sunday was "the right thing to do". Meanwhile, the leaders of the DUP and UUP say they expect to see prosecutions over the protest in the next few days. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s Kevin Scott, Kurtis Reid, and Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1990, Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy lost his seminal libel case against the Sunday Times. But formerly secret files reveal the south Armagh republican was actually expected to win it – and that the paper was considering throwing in the towel. But a tactical error by Murphy led to the paper deciding to fight – and not settle, costing him a fortune. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Sam McBride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is a stalemate in Portadown and deep division in Stormont. On the Orange side, the issue is the rights of a small number of people to march their traditional route – backed by a legal ruling. On the Garvaghy Road, a community feels that march is sectarian harassment - and a relic of another age. This is a local issue, but one which deep historical resonances, and one which many fear has brought Northern Ireland to the political brink. Unionists accuse nationalists of not accepting the rule of law, while nationalists accuse unionists of unnecessarily opening an old wound. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Sam McBride and Allison Morris and hears from Claire Dickson in Portadown, and from Andrew Madden in Stormont. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When journalist Siobhan Fenton was headhunted by Sinn Féin in 2020 she was an outsider. Entering the party press office in Dublin, she was from Belfast, and didn’t support IRA violence. At the time Sinn Fein was soaring, with Mary Lou McDonald expected to eventually become Ireland’s first female Taoiseach. But that hasn’t happened. Instead, the party’s momentum faltered – although it remains the biggest party on the island. What goes on inside of one of Ireland’s most secretive party, and how is the new generation of Sinn Féin staff changing the party? After five years working for Sinn Fein, Siobhán Fenton was ruthlessly dumped, learning that she was being ditched through a media report in 2025. She has released the book ‘Ourselves alone: Sinn Féin behind closed doors’ - and she joined Sam McBride on the BelTel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Parades Commission has given go ahead for Drumcree Orange march down the Garvaghy Road - but with stringent conditions. Permission has been granted for no more than 35 people, including five named marshals, to take part in the parade, which will depart Drumcree Church at 8am on Sunday September 27. Nationalists are outraged by the decision; unionists have welcomed it. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph's security correspondent, Allison Morris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson should serve at least 10 years in prison, a court in Newry has heard. The remarks were made during a submission hearing for disgraced former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson. The former MP was convicted of a series of historical sexual offences earlier this year. He was brought from Maghaberry high security prison to court for the hearing. Submissions were made from prosecutors about the length of prison term he should serve. Donaldson (63) had already been warned to expect a significant custodial term. Allison Morris was in court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Anderson is a dangerous murderer –and he’s on the run. The Derry man had been granted compassionate leave for his father's funeral, even though his brother Sean, guilty of the same murder, wasn’t. The 29-year-old was sentenced to a minimum tariff of 15 years for his role in the murder of father-of-five Karol Kelly in 2018. The manhunt continues on both sides of the border as we wonder why Anderson was granted the leave in the first place. Olivia Peden is joined by our crime correspondent Allison Morris. This episode was recorded on the afternoon of Tuesday 22nd September. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“We’ll forget her soon enough.” That is the extraordinary comment Charles Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, claims King Charles made in the days following her death. Now, Spencer’s new book has reignited old tensions and prompted a rare response from Buckingham Palace. Daily Mail features writer Fred Kelly joins Kevin Doyle to ask why Spencer is speaking out now, whether his claims stack up and what this latest royal row means for Diana’s enduring legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Johnny Adair, commonly referred to as ‘Mad dog Adair’, was one the most well-known terror bosses of the Troubles. He said his war was aimed at the IRA, but innocent Catholics were more often than not his real victims. His C Company of the west Belfast UDA also turned their guns on their fellow loyalists. Who is Mad dog Adair, what does he believe, and how does he view his murderous reign? Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Aaron Edwards, a Senior Lecturer in Defence and International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and author of ‘Enemies within: The explosive true story of Johnny ‘Mad dog’ Adair’. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William McGrath, was an influential loyalist, founder of the paramilitary group Tara, and a hardline evangelical Protestant. He was also a notorious predatory paedophile who rape dozens of young boys. Widely known as the ‘Beast of Kincora’ McGrath was convicted of abuse at the notorious east Belfast boys’ home and jailed in 1981. Now an audio tape of McGrath has emerged after more than half a century. In it he espouses an extreme ideology, inter-mixed with mythology, and fueled by religion. The Belfast Telegraph's Northern Ireland editor Sam McBride joins me to tell the story of the tape, how he got it, and what is on it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On September the 15th, 1976, the Belfast Telegraph offices in Belfast centre was bombed by the Provisional IRA. Journalists were clattering at their typewriters when the second evacuation warning of the day went out on the Tannoy. Following the evacuation, a bomb in a van exploded in a loading bay, before many employees had the chance to get out. One of them – 64-year-old production worker Joe Paton - who'd been in a locker room above the bay - died from his injuries four days later. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by former Belfast Telegraph journalists Billy Graham and Alf McCreary, who were there on the day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The jury in the inquest into the death of Noah Donohoe has found that the teenager died on the night of his disappearance, meaning that the PSNI’s response to his disappearance did not contribute to his death. However, the jury did find that police failings impacted on their ability to come to a conclusion in the inquest and found that the Department of Infrastructure “erred” in its management of the culvert in which the teenager died. But it also found that it was not probable that the Department’s management of the culvert more than minimally contributed to Noah’s death. They were unable to explain Noah’s behaviour on the day he went missing because the evidence was insufficient to enable them to reach a conclusion. 14-year-old Noah’s body was discovered in north Belfast six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet friends. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s Liam Tunney, who has been in court throughout the inquest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Once Ireland's richest man, Seán Quinn has returned to tell his story once again, this time through his new podcast, The Quinn Files. Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Sunday Independent’s Liam Collins and the Irish Independent’s Sean Pollock to examine Quinn's latest account of the events that transformed him from billionaire businessman to one of the most controversial figures of post-crash Ireland. From the extraordinary success of the Quinn Group to the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank, prison and life after bankruptcy, they ask whether Quinn's latest intervention brings fresh insight or simply revisits a story the public already knows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In September 1956 a Crossgar schoolboy made a shocking discovery after peering into a hen house and locking eyes with a child. The eyes belonged to seven-year-old Kevin Halfpenny – but he has been better known ever since as ‘the hen house boy’. Robbed of human interaction – he seemed to have learned his behavior from the chickens around him. His widowed mother Margaret Halfpenny was arrested and pleaded guilty to neglect. 70 years later, the heartbreaking story has been surrounded by folklore. Olivia Peden is joined by Belfast Telegraph Journalist Kurtis Reid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A senior DUP member set out their explicit support for violence - just weeks before the Good Friday Agreement. Files released in the National Archives in Kew have revealed the details of a politician’s comments to a government official - the individual wasn’t named but there were clues to their identity. It’s also been revealed that First Minister David Trimble was being paid thousands of pounds more than the deputy first Minister, Seamus Mallon, a year after the agreement – despite the roles being equal. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Sam McBride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When many people hear the words ‘Holy Cross’ - short for Holy Cross Girls Primary School – the words take them back to a dark time. Holy Cross is a Catholic School in a loyalist area, Upper Ardoyne or Glenbryn. In 2001, community tensions boiled over and led to loyalist residents protesting nationalist parents from Ardoyne taking their kids to schools through their part of the area. That protest became notorious for its viciousness. Two clerics, one Catholic, one Protestant became synonymous with the events of Holy Cross and attempts to resolve them. They were Fr Aidan Troy and the Rev Norman Hamilton. Fr Troy joined Ciarán Dunbar in the BelTel studio with the Rev Hamilton down the line. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, but certain areas of Belfast felt little effect of peace. In September 2001, the Holy Cross dispute became one of the most disturbing flashpoints of the post-Agreement era. Holy Cross was a Catholic Girls' primary school but sat a few hundred yards inside the loyalist Glenbryn estate, in an area known as Upper Ardoyne. Within days of the school year starting, the world watched in horror as demonstrations involving abuse, spitting and a bomb attack ensued. What legacy has the Holy Cross dispute had, what impact did it have on the children involved, and why did protesters feel that they had no other choice? Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Allison Morris and Olivia Peden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In September 2000 a body was found in a bog in Fermanagh. This was not a so called ‘bog-body’, sacrificed long ago - the body turned out to belong to local bus driver David Sullivan, who had gone missing 17 months earlier. There were things that were particularly disturbing about this discovery – the first of which was that Sullivan was the subject of dozens of allegations of child abuse, the second was that his body had no head. Olivia Peden is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s Andrew Madden and former DCI Norman Baxter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For much of the world, the Troubles in Northern Ireland were about Catholics and Protestants fighting each other. With those labels being used as shorthand to this day to describe members of the two main communities, it's easy to see why. But whilst for some the conflict clearly included a religious element, the role of religion is certainly up for debate. But what about peacebuilding – what role did Christians have in ending the conflict? Professor Gladys Ganiel’s research focuses on the role of religion in conflict in Northern Ireland. She has written a new short book – it's entitled Christianity and Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland. She joined Ciarán Dunbar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lauren Bradford-Clarke grew up believing her mother Lesley had taken her own life before finding out the truth – her father was a murderer. She was told her mum Lesley took her own life, eventually being told it was part of a ‘suicide’ pact with a man, Trevor Buchanan – the husband of the woman who would eventually become her stepmother. That woman was Hazel Stewart, how had been having an affair with Lauren’s father, Colin Howell. Ten 18-years after the deaths, Colin Howell walked into a police station and confessed to murdering them, implicating Steward as his partner in crime. Dr Lauren Bradford-Clarke, now a criminologist, spoke with the Belfast Telegraph’s Claire Williamson. This episode of The BelTel originally aired in February 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HMS Maidstone, an ex-Royal Navy Ship, was used in the early 1970s to hold internees. In January 1972, a group of IRA prisoners swam 270 meters through an ice-cold Belfast Lough in a bid to escape, greasing themselves in butter to squeeze out of the ship’s portholes. They then hijacked a double-decker bus before slipping across the border, humiliating the authorities. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by James Durney, author of ‘Jailbreak: Great Irish Republican escapes’. This episode was originally published in January 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Parades Commission acted wrongly in blocking Orangemen from seeking to march down a mainly nationalist road in Portadown, a court has ruled. Senior figures at Portadown District believe it now clears the way for Orangemen to walk back along the Garvaghy Road after almost 30 years, and intend to table a fresh application to march “in the near future”. But what are the origins of the dispute which almost brought Northern Ireland to the edge of anarchy? In this episode of The BelTel, originally published in July 2023, Ciarán Dunbar is joined by former BBC Journalist Mervyn Jess. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 smuggled to 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 family. They accused the Rev Ian Paisley of “abduction”. At one point, he gathered his supporters in the Ulster Hall to listen to a recording of Maura’s voice at the Ulster Hall, renouncing her Catholic faith as a “religion of fear and dread”. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by journalist Malachi O’Doherty, who grew up in west Belfast. This episode was originally released in October 2025. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the 13 October 1994, six weeks after the IRA announced a ‘complete cessation’, the Loyalist paramilitary groups declared their ceasefires. The UVF’s Gusty Spence announced loyalist violence was over, in a step that is seen as one of the vital steps towards a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by former PUP leader Billy Hutchinson, Historian Aaron Edwards, and journalists Allison Morris, Mark Simpson, and Vincent Kearney. This episode was originally published in October 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UUP's Mike Nesbitt has resigned as health minister – with a stinging public resignation letter aimed at his UUP leader Jon Burrows The row is over retaining emergency general surgery at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine. The Northern Trust had recommended its closure, despite widespread local opposition. Jon Burrows told a public meeting in Coleraine that he wouldn't support any closure – despite the health minister being a UUP man. Mike Nesbitt is understood to have asked his leader to publicly move away from that position, but Jon Burrows refused. What's going to be the outcome of all of this for the UUP? Ciarán Dunbar joined by the Belfast Telegraph's political editor, Suzanne Breen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After 25 years of what it termed ‘Armed Struggle’ and the ‘Long War’ , the Provisional IRA called a “complete cessation of military operations” on 31st August 1994 – 30 years ago. By that stage, the organisation was responsible for the deaths of 1,700 people. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Journalists Brian Rowan and Allison Morris, Former Belfast Telegraph Editor Ed Curran and historian Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh. This episode was originally published in August 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.