🎶 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026 officially underway in Belfast. Spoke to Belfast Bands Forum during the week about their sold-out event on Thursday and how the bands are building on the work of the Londonderry Bands Forum in the city thirteen years ago. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Belfast marching bands prepare for landmark Fleadh role: ‘Festival had to include Ulster-British identity’

Marching bands to build on Derry success 13 years ago

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🚴 "Our aim is to ensure that she has a level of independence in her adult life." Spoke to Conor Herron from Lámh Dhearg ahead of a fundraiser with VC Glendale for four-year-old Ciarla. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Dad hails community’s support ahead of cycling fundraiser for Belfast girl with cerebral palsy

Ciarla Herron (4) with cerebral palsy undergoing specialist physio in London

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ | 24-year-old Fraser Bohm is to stand trial in September. Prosecutors told the court the defendant had been travelling at 104mph prior to the collision. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

US judge rejects motion to drop murder charges in crash that killed NI-born student and three others

Bohm (24) will stand trial over the horror Pacific Coast Highway incident

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🏨 | A briefing document identifying issues with the generators has never been shown to the Dept. The units have cost the public £634k to maintain since 2021. They have never been used. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Trust didn’t tell Department of Health about problems with oxygen generators before they were donated to India during pandemic

Medics’ concerns the three units would be unable to cope with demand in virus-hit country were not passed on to minister

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🗳️ Northern Ireland's electoral canvass and registration system could be set for an overhaul. 🗣️ @dmcbfs said anything aimed at getting more people on the register was a welcome move. 📰 @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

NI’s voter canvass ‘no longer fit for purpose’, says Chief Electoral Officer

Dr Marshall has recommended automated voter registration be considered

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🏦 | Will Andy Burnham's tenure in Downing Street have an impact in NI? Two thirds of voters here are shrugging their shoulders at the prospect. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Two-thirds of NI voters have little hope of Andy Burnham’s premiership changing much

New Prime Minister took Downing Street reins on Monday

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🏥 | This generator is lying unused in the corner of a hospital car park, yet is costing the public thousands of pounds a year to maintain. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Unused emergency Covid oxygen generator that cost £412k now gathering moss in hospital car park

Another £454k has been spent maintaining five unused generators since 2021 during pandemic

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🏥 | The cancellations were recorded over two days in June, with the majority on June 10. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

More than 750 hospital appointments cancelled in Belfast during race riots last month

The Belfast Trust put measures in place to assist with staff safety during days of unrest

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

There's gonna be a new PM. What he needs is an op-ed telling him what to do, of which there's no doubt a lamentable absence. Here's the time-hallowed method for creating one: 1. Set out the problem cleanly, as if the PM had literally no idea that growth, the cost of living and deficit matter. 1/

🔴| The clock on jury deliberations in the Noah Donohoe inquest has now ticked past the 19-hour mark. All parties have had to relocate to an alternative court due to the late hour. Deliberations continue. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Jury deliberations resume for third day in Noah Donohoe inquest

Panel has discussed case for more than 10 hours

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🔴 | The jury in the Noah Donohoe inquest has resumed deliberations for a third day. "We're all happy to stay as long as is necessary," the coroner told the eight men and two women. They were sent out again at 9.46am. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Jury deliberations resume for third day in Noah Donohoe inquest

Panel has discussed case for more than 10 hours

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🔴 | The jury in the Noah Donohoe inquest has now begun deliberating over its verdict. The 14-year-old’s body was discovered in north Belfast on June 27, 2020, six days after he went missing as he cycled to meet friends. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Jury sent out to consider verdict in Noah Donohoe inquest

Case has been sitting for 22 weeks

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🔴| The coroner in the Noah Donohoe inquest is continuing his charge to the jury. They will ultimately be asked to deliberate over a verdict and will be asked to determine whether the police response contributed to his death in June 2020. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Noah Donohoe inquest jury asked to determine whether police response contributed to teen’s death

The coroner has been continuing his charge to the jurors

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

"I think when you come out of it, you’ve survived it, which is a much more positive situation, because you’re not a victim any more." Sat down recently with new @sinnfeinireland Chair of FODC Debbie Coyle to hear her remarkable story. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

‘I had to get out’: How NI council chair found herself in Enniskillen after fleeing abusive relationship

Debbie Coyle has vowed to champion Women’s Aid during her spell in office after accessing its support during a critical time 30 years ago

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ | Two final statements of evidence in the Noah Donohoe inquest today. Jury on standby as legal arguments remain outstanding, due to be charged later this week. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Email used to memorialise Noah Donohoe’s Instagram account was used for same process three days earlier

An agreed position read into evidence indicated that the address had previously been used to memorialise another account

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ | "I can’t imagine what Fiona is going through, what the past six years have been like, what that week was like." The final witness in the Noah Donohoe inquest has completed his evidence. The jury is set to be charged next week. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Police may ‘never have answer’ to some questions around Noah Donohoe’s death, coroner’s court told

The jury has been hearing from the inquest’s final witness

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🔴 | The final witness - DCI Tom Phillips - has been continuing his evidence to the Noah Donohoe inquest. Updates from court here: 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Noah Donohoe inquest: Witness questioned over police head injury hypothesis at press conference

The inquest into Noah Donohoe's tragic death in 2020 continues at Belfast Coroner’s Court

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ | The Noah Donohoe inquest has begun hearing from its final witness, DCI Phillips. Here's what was said today. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Noah Donohoe inquest: Senior officer denies telling witnesses what to say on stand

The co-ordinator of house-to-house enquiries also gave evidence today

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ A significant day at the Noah Donohoe inquest today as the psychiatry and psychology experts fielded questions. "We do not think that Noah was planning to end his own life." 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Noah Donohoe unlikely to have died by suicide, experts tell inquest

Teenager’s ‘bizarre’ behaviour on evening he disappeared ‘are not indicative of suicide but are unexplained and prompt further questions that do not currently have answers’, consultant psychiatrist te...

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

"Anyone who has lost an elderly relative has no doubt been left with the feeling that they should have listened more, taken more in." Personal one today - losing elderly relatives is painful for families, but it also has a wider impact on communities. @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Why our rural communities need to rage against the dying of their lights

I recently lost two elderly relatives... It’s important to keep memory alive and the lights burning

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

"Over the past two years, communication with staff on this matter has increased, in line with a rise in reported incidents." NI health trust reports rise in incidents of inappropriate access to patients' medical records. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Medical records in NI’s largest health trust inappropriately accessed more than two dozen times since 2023

Belfast Trust has increased staff messaging following the recent rise

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🏦 If your car dashboard was lit up like that of Stormont's Wellbeing Framework, you'd be in for a hefty bill. What is it, why was it established, and what does it tell us about life in NI? 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Explainer: What is the ‘framework’ buried deep in Stormont’s annual report and what does it tell us about life in NI?

Data a ‘damning indictment’ of the Executive, says Opposition leader

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🏥 NI spend on agency nursing staff has tripled since 2018 NIAO report finds: 🔸 £161.6m spent in 24-25 🔸 Safe staffing shortfall of more than 2,000 nurses 🔸 Higher costs than Eng, Scot and Wales RCN NI says "decisive, sustained action" needed. 📰 @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Stormont’s agency nursing bill has tripled to £162m since 2018 — more than Wales or Scotland

Total could fund more than 2,600 full-time nurses, as auditors warn shortfall in staffing levels much worse than official figure

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ An expert who analysed CCTV appeared at the Noah Donohoe inquest today as the jury were shown fresh footage of Noah's journey the night before he disappeared. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

No footage missing from CCTV seized from Noah Donohoe’s flat complex, witness tells inquest

A video analyst has also produced a report on part of the 14-year-old’s journey through Belfast city centre

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ A witness has told the inquest the death of Noah Donohoe is the most tragic case on which she has ever worked. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Conditions in culvert where Noah Donohoe’s body was found would have been terrifying, inquest hears

The situation facing Noah Donohoe as the tide rose in the culvert where his body was found would have been “terrifying”, the inquest into his death has heard.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ A health and safety expert said the waste ground close to the entrance of the culvert in which Noah Donohoe was found was in regular use - he noted a child's frisbee among items on the land during a site visit. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Noah Donohoe inquest: Waste ground around culvert entrance was being used as a playground, expert says

An area of waste ground close to the entrance of the culvert in which Noah Donohoe was found was being used as a “playground”, the inquest into his death has heard.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ An expert witness cannot explain Noah's phone call to himself the night before he disappeared. The jury also heard statements from some of the officers who entered the culvert and found the boy's body on June 27 2020. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Expert tells inquest he ‘cannot explain’ Noah Donohoe’s phone call to himself the night before he went missing

The inquest hears evidence from officers who examined the teenager’s mobile phone

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ A man who saw Noah on Northwood Road the night he disappeared has stood over a claim he phoned police that night. Police have indicated they have no record of the call. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Witness stands over evidence he called police on night Noah Donohoe went missing, inquest hears

Conor McConnell has appeared before coroner for a second time

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🚨 In 2021, NI gifted three oxygen generators to India to help their fight against Covid. DoH then turned down a £1.5m reimbursement from Westminster. Pharmacists raised doubts about the remaining five which haven't been used but have cost over £450K to maintain. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

NI health chiefs rejected London’s £1.5m offer towards cost of oxygen generators later donated to India to fight pandemic

The remaining units have not been used in NI despite £450,000 maintenance spend

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

⚖️ The jury today heard from Daryl Paul, who was convicted in 2021 of stealing Noah Donohoe's laptop. Mr Paul denied ever having Noah's green coat. 📰 | @belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Man who stole Noah’s laptop denies ever having schoolboy’s missing coat in his flat

Thief tells inquest into death of Belfast teenager that another witness’s claim over item of clothing not true

belfasttelegraph.co.uk