A fierce clash between GAA president Jarlath Burns and former Derry manager Rory Gallagher has led to the threat of legal action and a split in public opinion. Was Burns right to raise his concerns about Gallagher’s potential appointment to a new gig? 

Kevin Doyle is joined by Colm Keys, Fionnán Sheahan, and Tessa Fleming.

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Unionists fiercely resist calls for a border poll for on a United Ireland, but that was not always the case. David Trimble campaigned for a poll in 2002 – secret files reveal he was dismissed. Newly released Dublin files reveal former taoiseach John Bruton was suspicious not only of Sinn Féin and the SDLP, but even his own Department of Foreign Affairs. Other files reveal a young John F Kennedy was happy enough with partition of Ireland and how Roger Casement was a source of controversy long after his execution. 

Ralph Reigel from the Irish Independent joins Ciarán Dunbar.

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Edgar Graham was murdered in broad daylight at Queen’s University on 7 December 1983. 

A law lecturer and unionist politician, Sam McBride examines his life and legacy and tracks down the colleague accused of setting Edgar up for the IRA. 

This episode was originally published in December 2023. 

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Edgar Graham was just 29 years old when the IRA gunned him down at Queen’s University in Belfast. 

The young law lecturer and unionist politician was widely believed to be a future leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. 

Forty years later, Sam McBride investigates why the IRA targeted him, whether he was set up by a colleague, and where this lost leader of unionism might have led Northern Ireland. 

This episode was originally published in December 2023. 

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Rosaleen O’Kane was found in a burning flat in north Belfast in 1976, her body stripped and set on fire. Rosaleen was 33 years old. Why did the RUC not investigate her murder? Why were her family told her death might have something to do with 'black magic'? 

This episode was originally published in August 2023. 

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On the 3rd of July 1970 the British Army sealed off the lower Falls.  A ‘curfew’ is announced. Troops go in, searching for IRA weapons. But the use of CS gas, houses being wrecked, looted even, turns the population against them. Four people died. The Official IRA decided to fight what they called ‘The Battle of the Falls’.  The army seized weapons but their standing in west Belfast had been completely changed. 

Ciarán Dunbar is joined by historian Brian Hanley, and by Belfast Telegraph columnist and author Malachi O’Doherty. 

This episode was originally published in July 2024. 

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