The BelTel

Seamus Culleton and his harrowing story of life inside an ICE detention centre in Texas made a big impact in Ireland. The Kilkenny man quickly gained the sympathy of Ireland’s public and politicians, only for the tide to suddenly turn as new developments emerged. So, how did Seamus Culleton go from “perfect victim” to publicly scrutinised? And is Micheál Martin likely to push Donald Trump’s immigration buttons when he visits the White House next month?  

Host: Fionnán Sheahan 

Guest: Niall Donald  

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‘Don’t call Jeffrey Epstein a paedophile’ – that was the demand of a top NI lawyer to a London newspaper in 2011.  

 Paul Tweed was brought in to try and limit the damage to the sex-offender's reputation after he was released from prison.  

 The Belfast solicitor is one of the best-known libel lawyers in the UK and Ireland.   

 He has told the Belfast Telegraph that he “categorically rejects the suggestion that he acted in any way inappropriately”, saying he acted within his professional and regulatory obligations.  

The Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor Sam McBride joins Ciarán Dunbar in the studio.  

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Vehicles believed to be unmarked police cars arrived at his home in Sandringham this morning, where he had been living following his departure from Windsor. The former prince was stripped of his title in October 2025 over his links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor, who denies all wrongdoing, turned 66 years old today. 

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by TRT World News Anchor Enda Brady. 

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A former PSNI officer who searched the culvert in which the remains of Noah Donohoe were ultimately found has indicated felt the search operation had been as professional and as urgent as possible. He also said there had been “no suggestion or evidence he had ever gone into the culvert”. The inquest into the death of 14-year-old schoolboy Noah Donohoe is continuing in Belfast.  

 Liam Tunney is covering proceedings for the Belfast Telegraph. 

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Conditions inside the pitch-black tunnel in which Noah Donohoe’s remains were found would be a very challenging place to survive if you were naked – a PSNI officer has told the inquest into the schoolboy’s death. 14-year-old Noah’s body was discovered in north Belfast on June 27, 2020, six days after the St Malachy’s College student went missing. On Tuesday – the jury also heard police say ‘Hundreds of local residents had gathered in quite an agitated state'   

  Liam Tunney is covering the inquest for the Belfast Telegraph.

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The trial of the man accused of the murder of Lurgan woman Natalie McNally has begun.   32-year-old Natalie McNally was 15 weeks pregnant when she was stabbed to death at her home in December 2022.   35-year-old Stephen McCullagh, of Woodland Gardens in Lisburn, has denied the charge.     

The Belfast Telegraph’s crime correspondent Allison Morris reports.  

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The North-Armagh crime outfit ‘The Firm’ will take matters into its own hands after convicted double killer Stephen Smith died in January. Smith passed away after a seizure at home but that followed him being injured in an attack in Armagh before Christmas. That incident is being linked to a rival crime gang based in Armagh City – and the Firm are not happy. Why not? 

The Belfast Telegraph’s crime correspondent Allison Morris joins Ciarán Dunbar. 

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Dr Katy Radford MBE is Northern Ireland’s first ever director of the Office of Identity and Cultural Expression. The office, created as part of the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ deal, says it aims to ‘promote and protect the cultural heritage of all communities in Northern Ireland’. Dr Radford was hired alongside Irish Language Commissioner Pól Deeds and Commissioner for Ulster Scots and Ulster British Identity Lee Reynolds – but she says she’s ‘not quite sure’ what their relationship entails yet. Having served as Equality Commissioner and the Vice-Chair of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, she’s bringing extensive experience to her new role.  

Dr Katy Radford MBE joins Ciarán Dunbar.  

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Erika Kirk is rumoured to be visiting Northern Ireland as part of a tour to recruit young people to the conservative organisation founded by her murdered husband, Charlie Kirk. The organisation started out among conservative students on campuses across the US. It’s understood that former DUP MP Ian Paisley has been consulted about setting up a branch of the group Northern Ireland to carry forward their christian-right ethos. 

Could Turning point come to NI, what would it stand for, and would the group’s views resonate with young people in Northern Ireland? 

Olivia Peden is joined by Belfast Telegraph Journalists Brett Campbell and Kurtis Reid. 

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Stormont should not be treated as a “soft-play area” for politicians, the SDLP leader Claire Hanna has said in an in-depth interview with the BelTel podcast. In it, she gave her views on Irish unity, on Stormont reform and on the SDLP’s chances of recovery.  Claire Hanna became the leader of the SDLP unopposed in October 2024 having been an MP for south Belfast since 2019.   

• Many commentators say the SDLP has been more stridently pro-unity under Hanna’s leadership.  Does she agree?   
•  Can she square making Northern Ireland work with not wanting it at all?  
•  And can she turn around the SDLP’s long-term decline.

Claire Hanna, joined Ciarán Dunbar on the BelTel.  

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