The BelTel

The Hunger Strike of 1981 saw a surge in violence that left scores killed. With no end to the Troubles imaginable and Sinn Féin emerging as a serious electoral force, constitutional nationalism decided it had to do something. Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald and the SDLP leader John Hume had a meeting of minds resulting in The New Ireland Forum. 

• What does the Forum recommend?  
• Was it more than just a talking shop? 
• And did it lead to the later Anglo-Irish Agreement? 

Ciarán Dunbar spoke to historian Séan Ó Duibhir. 

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Malcolm McKeown was shot dead at point blank range in August 2019. McKeown was a career criminal, from a family steeped in violence - both his brothers had convictions for involvement in sectarian killings. Two men have now been convicted of his murder – linked to the Lurgan based organised crime gang the ‘Firm’. McKeown had been shot previously, and he knew he was under threat, his enemies were many, but a botched drug deal with the Firm sealed his fate.   

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s crime correspondent, Allison Morris

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Domestically, NI politics has been consumed by Irish language issues this week and unionists reel in the wake of Belfast City Council’s new bilingual policy – is it just the result of demographics? 

October is party conference season – why did Starmer not mention us in his speech? 

The SDLP is presenting itself as both an alternative to Alliance and pushing Irish unity, can they do both?   

And finally, an MLA says the current Stormont executive is the worst one since devolution returned in 1998 – is he right?  

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s Liam Tunney, political commentator Alex Kane and by Ulster University lecturer David McCann. 

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The so-called Nama trial is underway in Belfast, more than a decade after police first began an exceptionally complex and significant investigaton. 

Frank Cushnahan – a former banker and senior businessman - and Ian Coulter, a former top solicitor, face charges linked to an allegedly vast fraud at the heart of Northern Ireland’s biggest ever property deal. They deny all the charges. 

The Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland Editor Sam McBride has been in court for the first four days of what could be a three-month-long trial. 

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The peace process saw the release of paramilitary prisoners from HMP Maze, aka the Maze, the H-Blocks, Long Kesh, an Cheis Fhada. The maximum-security prison held thousands during the Troubles. It closed 25 years ago. Whilst some of the site has been redeveloped, political deadlock means much of the old prison lies derelict. Unionists fear that a museum on the site would become a “shrine to terrorism”. Allison Morris has been talking to former staff and inmates – some of whom continued to try and escape even during peace negotiations. 

She joins Ciarán Dunbar. 

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50 years ago, a pair of desperate Provisional IRA members etched their names in history as a crime driven by personal passion went astray. Their victim however would be a much shrewder hostage than they expected, Dutch industrialist turned adopted Irish son; Dr Tiede Herrema. Herrema was held for ransom for 36 days, with the pair believing that the crime would put pressure on the British and Irish governments.

Fionnán Sheehan is joined by Irish Independent Journalist Ralph Riegel.

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An Onlyfans model married to John George’s alleged killer has been arrested after allegedly being found with drugs in Spain. Belfast man John George’s body was discovered in January near Torrevieja. Madison Allen, now Madison Smyth, married murder suspect Jonny Smyth while he was on the run. Now, the 20-year-old Newtownabbey woman has been arrested after crystal meth and cannabis resin was found in the car she was driving. 

Belfast Telegraph crime correspondent Allison Morris joins Ciarán Dunbar with the latest.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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