The BelTel

Alf McCreary walked into the Belfast Telegraph on September 1, 1964 – and asked for a job. 60 years on, he's still writing for the paper. Alf’s career has given him many insights into our society and its divisions. He charted the evolution of the Rev Ian Paisley, and he wrote a biography of Gordon Wilson, whose daughter Marie was killed in the Enniskillen bombing.   He spoke to Ciarán Dunbar about his life in journalism. 

The UVF began the 1970s with a campaign to cleans Catholics and Catholic owned businesses from Protestant dominated areas. With the IRA’s campaign at its height, the UVF moved from targeting nationalist and moderate political figures to simple sectarian murder – many of its victims just teenagers. By the mid-70s a notorious group emerged from the UVF which brought the savagery of the troubles to a new level – the Shankill Butchers. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by author and historian Aaron Edwards. 

Back in 1995, Fr Michael Kennedy took to the pulpit in Dungarvan, County Waterford to give his Sunday sermon. He warned locals that an “Angel of Death” was in their midst killing vulnerable men. What ensued sparked a global sensation.Host: Dave Hanratty, Guest: Ellen Coyne

Alexander McCartney, from Newry, is one of the most prolific paedophile ‘catfishes’ the world has seen to date. A Judge said his crimes of “sadism and depravity” were “on a par with murder”. His actions led to the death of an innocent little girl, Cimarron Thomas, and subsequently, her father. Kurtis Reid was in court. Just a note to say – some listeners might find the contents of the episode of the BelTel disturbing. 

The word ‘Incel’ is short for ‘involuntarily celibate’. They’re primarily men, who believe they’re doomed to be alone, blaming society, women, and sometimes themselves for their isolation. The explosion of the ‘Incel’ community online has led to multiple forums, chats and groups based on their beliefs, which have led to disastrous consequences. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s Kurtis Reid and Olivia Peden, who went undercover on one of these forums. 

The Kinahan cartel is Ireland’s most powerful crime gang, and one half of its most notorious gang war. After a failed hit on boss Daniel Kinahan, the cartel recruited a team of killers to retaliate against the Hutch gang. One of the men they hired was Estonian Imre ‘The Butcher’ Arakas – but the eccentric hitman was soon caught. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by crime editor with the Irish Sun and co-author of ‘Kinahan Assassins’, Stephen Breen, to tell the story of the Kinahan-Hutch feud, its victims and its hitmen. 

Sinn Féin controversies snowball as party member resigns after a portrait is damaged in Belfast City. Is the party suffering from a media pile-on before an election or a self-inflicted meltdown caused by a lack of professionalism? All this just before an election – one which might feature well-known crime figure Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Dublin based news reporter Gráinne Ní Aodha and commentator and politics lecturer David McCann to talk politics.

Samuel ‘Uel’ Cooke was a prolific UVF hitman. Connected to at least six murders, including the killing of IRA Chief Brendan ‘Ruby’ Davison, his most heinous deed was the murder of innocent 26-year-old Catholic Anne-Marie Smyth. She had been attending a concert in east Belfast before being lured to a nearby house, where she was brutally beaten and killed by a UVF-led gang. Cooke died this month, aged 59. Sunday Life’s Ciaran Barnes joins Ciarán Dunbar.

On 24th March 1922, five men dressed in RIC police uniforms broke into the north Belfast home of well-known Catholic publican Owen McMahon. The men shoot and kill McMahon, along with four of his sons, and an employee of the family. What happened next changed the course of history on the Island of Ireland. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by historian and author Dr Edward Burke to explain why the murders changed so much.