The BelTel Podcast By Belfast Telegraph cover art

The BelTel

The BelTel

By: Belfast Telegraph
Listen for free

The BelTel brings you some of Northern Ireland's top journalists, Allison Morris, Sam McBride and Suzanne Breen to name but a few, giving you the inside stories behind what is in the news. Presented by Ciarán Dunbar, the Bel Tel investigates, debates and informs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Belfast Telegraph
Politics & Government
Episodes
  • ‘Among Communists’: Belfast poet, Sinéad Morrisey tells her family and political story
    Apr 3 2026

    Belfast poet, Sinéad Morrisey, was brought up in a Communist family. Hers was a childhood lived in the little world created by the party, a world apart from others and from the Troubles.


    It involved smoke-filled rooms, endless meetings, and dreams of a future utopia – coupled with a belief that east of the Iron Curtain, there were people already living in it.


    The fall of Communism in the eastern block was more than an historical event for her family – it was the end of a dream and of a way of life.


    Sinéad Morrisey’s new memoir is called ‘Among Communists’. She joined Ciarán Dunbar to explain the book and her story.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    30 mins
  • Noah Donohoe: Witness denies phoning cops over teen’s laptop
    Apr 2 2026

    Members of the jury in the Noah Donohoe inquest have been asked to indicate their availability for the month of May.


    The inquest officially began on the 19th of January and was expected to finish up in mid-March.


    Fourteen-year-old Noah’s body was discovered in north Belfast on the 27 of June 2020 - six days after he had gone missing.

    This week an anonymous witness at the inquest denied being the caller who informed police that Daryl Paul had been trying to sell Noah Donohoe’s laptop.

    Liam Tunney has been covering the inquest for the Belfast Telegraph.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    16 mins
  • ‘Boston Tapes’ Troubles archive ‘closed’ but not forgotten
    Mar 31 2026

    It was supposed to be an oral record of the Troubles, made by the paramilitaries, and initially the ‘Boston Tapes’ project seemed like a really good idea, albeit one which would include descriptions of violence and terror.

    The concept was simple – former paramilitaries would be interviewed, the tapes would then be kept in storage, and their stories only revealed after the interviewee’s deaths.

    But it became clear that the scheme was flawed and that the recordings were not as secret as participants assumed.

    Now the Belfast Telegraph can reveal that the Boston College tapes archive has been formally closed - and will remain so for 75 years from when it was first created

    • What was the Boston Tapes project?
    • What went wrong?
    • And why have the records been sealed?

    Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter, Andrew Madden.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    29 mins
No reviews yet