The BelTel

‘Tattle Life’ is a website where gossip runs wild, reputations are trashed and anonymity is king, where influencers and content creators often found themselves at the centre of abuse and lies. NI based couple Neil and Donna Sands took the prolific gossip site on in court – and won. The legal victory, which netted the couple a £300,000 payout, marks the first time the site’s founder has been unmasked. The Irish Independent’s Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Neil Sands to discuss how he tracked down and unmasked Tattle Life’s owner. 

It was pandemonium in London on Wednesday morning as Kneecap’s Mo Chara appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court. Hundreds turned out to support the rapper, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, as he entered court – having arrived in a mocked up RUC landover. The west Belfast rapper is charged with a terror offence over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London last year. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s crime correspondent Allison Morris who was in court and BelTel assistant producer Olivia Peden. 

A week from the riots in Ballymena, the dust is beginning to settle. The violence has been universally condemned, but is it enough to condemn the rioters without a conversation on immigration? Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Sam McBride and Allison Morris.

It was the Irish American organisation whose aim was a united ireland – and whose method was lobbying politicians in Washington – and above all, fundraising. From lavish dinners to buckets in Irish pubs in the US, they collected millions of dollars for the Republican cause. But the question was always – where did the money go?  RTÉ is set to run a two-part documentary Noraid: Irish-America and the IRA. T It was written and directed by Kevin Brannigan – he joined Ciarán Dunbar on the BelTel. 

Sir Ken Bloomfield has died at the age of 94. He wasn’t a politician or a political activist – but he was a key figure in the political life of Northern Ireland. He was at the heart of the old Stormont Government in the years before it collapsed in 1972, being described by a former British Prime Minister as the “brains of the operation”. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s Northern Ireland editor, Sam McBride.

Larne leisure centre has been extensively damaged after being attacked by youths. Onlookers cheered and laughed while attacking the building after it was used as an emergency centre by those affected by the riots. Trouble has continued in Ballymena, with petrol bombs thrown at police, a water cannon deployed and multiple houses attacked.  Ciarán Dunbar is joined by the Belfast Telegraph’s Gabrielle Swan and Kevin Scott, who were at the scene.   

Houses were destroyed and 15 officers were injured during serious disorder in Ballymena on Monday night. Large crowds had attended an earlier anti-immigration protest in the Co. Antrim town, after two 14-year-old Romanian boys were charged with a serious sexual assault. Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph Journalist Liam Tunney and Visuals Editor Kevin Scott, who was at the scene. 

In the early 2000s, Peter and Iris Robinson were seen as Northern Ireland’s political power couple. Iris, known for her strong Christian values, secretly had an affair with 19-year-old Kirk McCambley, whose late father had entrusted her with his care. In 2008, she helped McCambley secure over £50,000 to open a café, allegedly taking £5,000 for herself—money she failed to declare as required in her role as a councillor. The affair and financial misconduct, once exposed, caused a political and media storm, shocking the public.  Olivia Peden revisits this explosive scandal with The Belfast Telegraph’s Suzanne Breen and Sam McBride.

Richard Satchwell has been given a life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife, Tina Satchwell. In March 2017, Satchwell began a media tour, saying that she was missing, but he believed she was alive. In reality, he had killed her, keeping her body in a freezer before burying her remains in their home. Her remains were undiscovered for six and a half years. Garda believe that he murdered Tina in fear of her finding out that he had become involved in a scam to obtain two pet monkeys. Olivia Peden is joined by the Irish Independent’s Ralph Riegel.