The BelTel

Loughinisland is a small parish in Co. Down. Its name has become synonymous with the infamous Loughinisland Massacre, when six were killed by the UVF in a pub while watching Ireland play Italy in the 1994 World Cup. Trevor Birney helped make a documentary about the murders – but in 2018, he was arrested by PSNI over material used in the film, alongside his colleague Barry Mccaffrey. Six years later, they’re at the center of a major tribunal against the authorities over keeping surveillance of local Journalists. He joins Ciarán Dunbar. 

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.