Belfast's first ever chance to host the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann's since it started in 1951 is not just a major moment for NI, but for many southerners for whom NI is almost a foreign land. It has cross-party backing, with the DUP & UUP firmly in support.

Fleadh’s arrival in Belfast is a breakthrough for southerners who see Northern Ireland as foreign

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is to bring 800,000 visitors to Belfast, mixing Irish and British traditions and reshaping cross-border ties.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

If you're around west Cork next weekend, I'll be taking part in the West Cork History Festival alongside @markhennessy.bsky.social. Also loads of far more interesting people from the Taoiseach to Iain Dale, Leanne Calvert, Myles Dungan & more. 📖Programme: westcorkhistoryfestival.org/2026-festival/

The real story of Ben Lowry's sudden departure as News Letter editor ten days ago, involving corporate brutality, newsroom turmoil, questions over the historic paper's future and the new owner's decision that this emaciated paper doesn't need an editor.

Shock and silence: Ben Lowry’s departure as News Letter editor was involuntary and involved corporate brutality

Historic newspaper now has no editor — and role has been ditched, prompting an ex-editor to speak out amid confusion as to what is going on

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Ex-PSNI officer Chris Noble guilty of gross misconduct for appalling behaviour we’re banned from reporting: Panel delivers withering verdict against NI man but maintains draconian reporting restrictions around what he did - and even their own words.

Ex-PSNI officer Chris Noble guilty of gross misconduct for appalling behaviour we’re banned from reporting

Panel delivers withering verdict against Northern Irish man but maintains draconian reporting restrictions around what he did and even their own words

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Former PSNI officer quits as Staffordshire Chief Constable on eve of gross misconduct hearing we’re banned from reporting.

Former PSNI officer quits as Staffordshire Chief Constable on eve of misconduct hearing we’re banned from reporting

Sweeping reporting restrictions prevent making public any of the evidence

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

"For the best part of a year, I’ve been involved in a court case which we can’t report..." tinyurl.com/zty24vnp

Is this an inflection point for unionism? Only the second time since the DUP overtook the UUP in 2003 that a poll has put the Ulster Unionists ahead (the other being amid the DUP's leadership chaos in 2021). Also very bad for Alliance - now clearly behind Claire Hanna's SDLP.

Belfast Telegraph@belfasttelegraph.co.uk · last wk.

Support for the DUP has plummeted to its lowest level in five years, according to a new LucidTalk poll. In the wake of Jeffrey Donaldson’s conviction for historical sex offences, the UUP has overtaken the DUP to become the most popular unionist party in Northern Ireland.

A Sinn Féin minister last year sided with a vastly wealthy corporation at the expense of consumers and then tried to hide how that happened – but now the truth can be revealed after the Belfast Telegraph got hold of documents she wanted to keep secret.

SF minister fails in bid to hide documents which reveal chaos within her department and ferocious critique by regulator

Department for the Economy claimed that if £23m was spent compensating electricity blackouts, it could lead to £1.6bn bill — despite utility body being baffled about process behind that figure

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

One of Northern Ireland’s poshest hotels provided a prize for a hard-right gathering — featuring conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers & Ian Paisley — aimed at reshaping society. The US-inspired CPAC GB event featured rows of empty seats and was savaged from both the left and the right.

Top NI hotel offers luxury prize for hard-right gathering featuring conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers

The link between the Galgorm Resort and what a conservative critic lampooned as ‘Yankee-brained slop’ appears to be a controversial DUP figure

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

GB News will not be investigated by Ofcom after a presenter said there was no riot in Belfast in June despite widespread violence reported in the area. Ofcom received more than 400 complaints over the claim www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

GB News will not be investigated over ‘no riot in Belfast’ claim

Media regulator will not take action despite receiving 446 complaints about comments by Bev Turner

theguardian.com

@sjamcbride.bsky.social, Northern Ireland Editor of the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Independent and co-author of For and Against a United Ireland, will join What is Ireland Thinking? He brings extensive reporting and analysis of Northern Irish politics. @notredame.bsky.social

After more than a century of cautious discretion, southern Irish Protestants are finding their voice. 'The Prodcast' - a podcast about Protestants in the Republic of Ireland - explores what it means to be thoroughly Irish, yet different.

After a century of cautious discretion, southern Irish Protestants are finding their voice

“I’m David, a southern Irish Protestant,” says a middle-aged man.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Mystery of secret Stormont official who can’t be named deepens as new records show civil service’s own experts said it was indefensible. A strange case, revealing broken bureaucracy where vast effort goes into hiding basic information from we who fund it.

Mystery of secret Stormont official who can’t be named deepens as new documents show civil service’s own experts believed it was indefensible

Strange debacle reveals a broken and secretive civil service where vast effort goes into hiding basic information from those who fund this elaborate bureaucracy

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

I'll be discussing For and Against a United Ireland at Féile an Phobail in west Belfast on 30 July. It's a free event and there's no need to book. feilebelfast.com/events/the-b...

On page 14 of the NI Department of Finance's drier than flour 'Guidance on the Format of the Remuneration Report 2025-26', an official sought to briefly bring the document to life. Spoiler: the levity is short-lived.

Where did all Jeffrey Donaldson's money go? Trying to untangle the paedophile former DUP leader's surprising finances with @ciarandunbarrach.bsky.social.

Can Jeffrey Donaldson afford an appeal? | The BelTel

YouTube video by Belfast Telegraph

youtube.com

More than one in ten of people in Northern Ireland agree with intimidating migrants out of an area; 8% think it's fine to burn migrants out of their homes. We need to separate these hardcore racist thugs from those with lawful political views on migration.

If more than 154,000 people are happy to see immigrants burned out of their homes, the conversation needs to change

Rising racial tensions and migration fears are splitting Northern Ireland. Explore the polling, risks and what open debate could change

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Where did Jeffrey Donaldson’s fortune go? Mystery over huge earnings, unpaid mortgage, and sums which don’t add up: Records obtained by the Belfast Telegraph show the ex-DUP leader has signed his house over to his lawyers as a c£500,000 bill looms.

Where did Jeffrey Donaldson’s fortune go? Mystery over huge earnings, unpaid mortgage, and sums which don’t add up

Records obtained by this newspaper show former DUP leader’s wealth is ebbing away — and his legal options are now all problematic

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

It's not the central element of this story, but when my colleague Claire Dickson showed me Cllr Reuben Glover's text message earlier in the week, it was almost unintelligible - quite literally. He simply couldn't express whatever was in his head. Mind-boggling.

DUP councillor stands over text implying link between girls’ clothing choices and alleged sexual assault

Amid Ballymena’s riots, Glover shared his views in party-affiliated group chat

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Did journalists cover up Jeffrey Donaldson's hypocrisy? Those making this claim fail to understand the libel laws and the difference between rumour & evidence. I rang the MP 16 years ago to put marriage split rumours to him - but that never got into print.

I put rumours of marriage split and gay lover to Donaldson 16 years ago... he sounded very nervous, and I sensed there was something he feared

Allegations couldn’t be printed at time due to our strict libel laws

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

This is the disturbing image former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson sent a young woman after he'd given her a tour of the Palace of Westminster - and after she says he sexually assaulted her. Yesterday she reported him to the police.

Woman claims Jeffrey Donaldson tried to kiss her and put hand up skirt in DUP Westminster offices

Jeffrey Donaldson looks set to be investigated again after a further allegation of sexual assault, this time on a woman in the DUP offices at Westminster.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

If you're interested in studying journalism, but don't think you can afford to do so, this bursary is now open again for Ulster University's excellent postgraduate journalism course. For details, contact Prof Colm Murphy: c.murphy@ulster.ac.uk.

Sam McBride@sjamcbride.bsky.social · last yr.

Ulster University's postgraduate journalism course is where I learned to be a reporter. They've now created a bursary to encourage those who don't have rich parents, are from minorities, mature students & others. For more details contact Dr Colm Murphy: c.murphy@ulster.ac.uk.

When @belfasttelegraph.co.uk asked the DUP questions relating to claims about what Emma Little Pengelly allegedly told a woman who Ian Paisley described as a "victim" of Donaldson, the reply came from solicitor Paul Tweed's law firm, which specialises in libel cases.

Woman called a ‘victim’ says Emma Little-Pengelly told her in 2020 ‘Jeffrey Donaldson is a danger to you’

Deputy First Minister ‘categorically denies’ that she made any such warning

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

After the Jeffrey Donaldson scandal, there is the growing likelihood that next year’s Assembly election will deliver the most incoherent unionist representation in Northern Ireland’s history, with an emaciated DUP too weak to sustain the Executive.

Donaldson’s former allies will pay the price at the polls for keeping their mouths shut

A further fracturing of the unionist vote will heap yet more pressure on an already dysfunctional Stormont

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The real political damage for the DUP has barely begun - and the crisis ahead is about far more than Jeffrey Donaldson. Flaws in Gavin Robinson's leadership are now evident but the party's critical problem is a deep rot which it's not confronting.

The real political damage for the DUP has barely begun... and the crisis ahead is about far more than Donaldson

Former leader has exposed the deep rot within a self-righteous party whose fusion of the temporal with the transcendent helped him hide

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

For and Against a United Ireland reviewed by Patrick Cockburn in the London Review of Books: "lucid and highly informed" (and 4,132 other words).

Patrick Cockburn · Leap in the Dark: Irish Unity

What would happen if these two very different societies were united, when their institutions and attitudes have evolved...

lrb.co.uk

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has now confirmed to the Policing Board the accuracy of the Belfast Telegraph's reporting. At the time, the PSNI said it had no evidence that loyalist paramilitaries were orchestrating last month's race riots. We said they were. 1/2

Sam McBride@sjamcbride.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Long read on Northern Ireland’s week of chaos: What it’s like inside a riot, being threatened by paramilitaries at a 'peaceful protest', being assaulted by a masked man, and why we can expect this to return again and again and again.

The senior PSNI detective, the MI5 sting operation, international gun-running and how Jeffrey Donaldson’s gay sauna visit emerged: As conspiracy theories about ex-DUP leader swirl, senior officer explains real story behind extraordinary encounter.

The senior PSNI detective, the MI5 sting operation, international gun-running and how Donaldson’s gay sauna visit emerged

As conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Donaldson swirl, senior officer explains real story behind extraordinary encounter

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

It's highly significant that Sinn Féin is now calling on Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots to stand aside, and that the SDLP & Alliance are openly asking him tough questions. The catalyst is what he knew about Donaldson, but the backstory involves weeks of concern about another matter...

Is Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots out of control? A strange decision, a huge U-turn...and no explanation

Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots has performed a massive U-turn on a strange decision which has caused unusual controversy around Stormont. Last month, Mr Poots blocked MLAs from discussing a proposal whi...

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The story the DUP is telling the public about its knowledge of Donaldson’s behaviour doesn’t add up. The party is renowned for slippery language and not being fully candid with voters; despite its claims to have changed, that seems to be happening again.

The story the DUP is telling the public about its knowledge of Donaldson’s behaviour doesn’t add up

The party is renowned for slippery language and not being fully candid with voters — despite its claims to have changed, that seems to be happening again

belfasttelegraph.co.uk