The BelTel

Last week in London the great and good of the political right arrived for a conference focusing on ‘saving the west’. The three-day CPAC event hosted a star-studded cast – from Nigel Farage, to Liz Truss, to Ian Paisley Jr. It also hosted conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccine speakers.

At the ‘Winston Churchill Gala Dinner’ in the programme, one of the prizes was a stay at The Galgorm, in Co. Antrim.
The link between the event which a conservative critic has deemed ‘Yankee-brained slop’ and the hotel which is home to the most expensive guinness in the UK appears to be the former north Antrim MP.

The Galgorm resort and spa says that the prize is not an endorsement of the event.
Olivia Peden is joined by Sam McBride.


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This episode contains references to rape and sexual assault, and may not be suitable for everyone.

Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, like to talk about male empowerment and freedom, yet both are currently shackled away from the outside world.

Arrested last weekend by US authorities, the pair are unlikely to find that the confines of a Miami jail cell measure up to the lavish lifestyle they routinely flaunt online – but that’s their home for now. The reason? A volley of 38 new charges, including rape and sex trafficking, courtesy of the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK, with an extradition attempt to follow. The brothers now face a total of 59 charges, all of which they deny.

So, where to now for Andrew and Tristan Tate?

Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Isabella Kwai, reporter with the New York Times, to break down the complexities of the criminal investigation into the Tate brothers – and to question what made them such prominent public figures in the first place.

This episode of The BelTel was created by our sister podcast, The Indo Daily.
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Andy Burnham has officially entered Downing Street, and has shook up the Labour Cabinet. In his maiden speech, the former mayor of Manchester has vowed “take power out of downing street, and carry it into every postcode in the land”.

Ministers have been swiftly replaced, from the chancellor to Northern Ireland’s Secretary of state, with Welsh MP Chris Bryant replacing Hilary Benn.

So what can Andy Burnham do for Northern Ireland?

Olivia Peden is joined by Sam McBride.
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The UDA chief behind the Craigyhill bonfire in Larne won’t answer questions about his knowledge of an unsolved murder. David Murray says he has “nothing to hide”. But - he might be feeling the heat after police launched a fresh appeal about the loyalist-feud killing of Andrew Cairns in Larne in 2000. Murray was initially charged with murdering the UVF man, who was beaten before bring shot in the head at an Eleventh Night bonfire. The charge was eventually dropped and Murray pleaded guilty to assault getting a suspended prison sentence.
But there’s a question for the police... why did they pose for pictures with the so-called master bonfire builder - when they had named him as a UDA commander.

Ciarán joined by John Toner from the Sunday Life and by the Belfast Telegraph’s John Laverty to discuss some of the pallets used in bonfires, if they are blue or red, they are private property – why do the cops ignore that?
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On Monday morning an horrific discovery was made in Ballymena - the remains of three people were found inside a house on the Old Cullybackey Road – a man, a woman and an eight-year-old girl.

It is believed that the man murdered his wife and child before ending his own life, a year after a similar tragedy in Co. Fermanagh. Since 2017 there have been 13 women and children murdered in Northern Ireland by men who later took their own lives.

This podcast discusses murder and suicide and might not be suitable for some listeners.
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