Sam McBride

NI property developer whose secret recordings of Nama defendant will feature in trial dies after illness A Co Down developer whose secret recordings of Frank Cushnahan are to be played in the latter’s trial over the £1bn Nama deal has died.

As the trial continues, it has been confirmed that massive property developer John Miskelly - whose secret recordings of Cushnahan will feature in this case - has died, just days after the trial finally got under way a decade after the Nama-Cerberus deal.

Nama’s own notes show it was privately happy to keep £5m Cushnahan fee secret until that became impossible, jury told After being told by a massive US fund that it was paying Frank Cushnahan a £5m success fee to buy £1.1bn of Nama loans, a senior figure in the Republic’s ‘bad bank’ assured the fund that the issue wou...

After being told by a massive US fund that it was paying Frank Cushnahan a £5m success fee to buy £1.1bn of Nama loans, a senior figure in the Republic’s ‘bad bank’ assured the fund that the issue would be kept quiet, a court has been told.

They're the colours of the new Think Rationally Before You Vote Party.

This is the dizzying office of Ulster University's vice chancellor atop the Belfast campus - I'd get no work done here. Talking to @fotoole.bsky.social & @markcarruthers7.bsky.social for Red Lines & The View about For & Against a United Ireland, now hitting bookshops.
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Warning as Asian hornet found in Northern Ireland for first time: ‘This is a harmful species’ The sighting of an Asian hornet in Northern Ireland has been confirmed for the first time, the NI Environment Agency (NIEA) has said.

This is alarming and significant: the first sighting in Northern Ireland of the Asian hornet, a ferociously aggressive predator which decimates the bee population by mass attacks where it rips the heads off bees - which are crucial for pollination.

Key figures from the full table shown in court of Nama's top debtors - and the eye-watering sums they owed - now in the article, showing the huge amounts owed by Frank Boyd, Andrew Creighton, Paddy Kearney, Neil Adair, Gerard O'Hare, Kevin and Michael Lagan - and lots more.

Frank Cushnahan ‘at the very heart of Stormont’, his lawyer tells fraud trial as names and debts on Nama’s loan book revealed Frank Cushnahan – now facing changes linked to an alleged multi-million-pound fraud – was “at the very heart of the Northern Irish government”, his trial was today told.

Frank Cushnahan – now facing changes linked to an alleged multi-million-pound fraud – was “at the very heart of the Northern Irish government”, his trial was today told - as document reveals that Nama’s top NI debtor owed a staggering €846 million.

Heather Humphreys’ republicanism is more Wolfe Tone than Wolfe Tones If Heather Humphreys becomes Ireland’s 10th president, she won’t be the first Protestant, but she would be the first Presbyterian, a subtle but significant distinction.

If Heather Humphreys becomes Ireland’s 10th president, she won’t be the first Protestant, but she would be the first Presbyterian - a subtle but significant distinction. Few republicans would draw on the Presbyterian Church for inspiration, yet she does.

Project could drastically change our understanding of the Troubles… but declassified file disproves claim about government meddling In The Steel Shutter, a remarkable Troubles film made more than half a century ago, nine people from Belfast were taken to Philadelphia to sit in a circle and talk while being filmed by the celebrated...

Amid debate about Troubles 'official history', the Government denies ever interfering in official history books – but a file I've found disproves that, showing it “negotiated” with a foreign government over what could be said, to dismay of top historian.

Cushnahan not bound by Irish law to keep confidential information about £1.1bn loans to himself, lawyer tells court Frank Cushnahan was not bound by an Irish law to maintain confidentiality around its Northern Ireland loans worth more than a billion pounds, his lawyer has told a Belfast jury.

Frank Cushnahan was not bound by an Irish law to maintain confidentiality around its Northern Ireland loans worth more than a billion pounds, his lawyer has told a Belfast jury.

If Cushnahan was being paid by Cerberus, we’d never have done £1.1bn deal, Nama’s ex-chairman tells jury The US vulture fund that bought Nama’s Northern Ireland loans would likely never have been allowed to do so if it had been known that Frank Cushnahan stood to make money from the deal, Nama’s former c...

The US vulture fund that bought Nama’s Northern Ireland loans for £1.1bn would likely never have been allowed to do so if it had been known that Frank Cushnahan stood to make money from the deal, as the Crown allege, Nama’s former chairman has said.

PSNI mirroring Blue Lights: Officers fear their own bosses more than dissidents amid ‘deep, corrosive disillusionment’ Officers in the PSNI’s most sensitive department have described their senior management as more dangerous than those trying to kill them.

Officers in the PSNI’s most sensitive department have described their senior management as more dangerous than those trying to kill them. Some 53 of 60 officers who spoke to a Cambridge academic were scathing about what they've to deal with internally.

This contains a vulnerability for both taxpayers and boiler owners: It gives the department so much power that it essentially just asks us all to trust it - and DfE has repeatedly demonstrated we shouldn't trust it on RHI. Here's the draft bill: www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets...

Caoimhe Archibald has now published the draft legislation to shut the existing RHI. It's just two and a half pages long but would give her department exceptionally sweeping powers to make changes "of any kind"....essentially the power to do as it pleases.

Nama trial is a thriller with back-stabbing and claims of insatiable greed... and it's an establishment who's who In the uninspiring surroundings of Court 13 in Belfast’s Laganside courts complex, the outline of a legal thriller has been unfolding over recent days, replete with secret recordings, back-stabbing, c...

In the aesthetically uninspiring surroundings of Court 13 in Belfast’s Laganside courts complex, the outline of a legal thriller has been unfolding over recent days: secret recordings, back-stabbing, claims of insatiable greed, alleged fraud and money laundering.

Stormont is pretending to close RHI, but isn’t: it’s quadrupling payments, locking them in to 2036, and making scheme easier to abuse On Monday, Stormont set out how it plans to close the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, but there were two problems: key details were missing, and what it’s planning doesn’t in fact shut the sche...

Stormont is pretending to close RHI, but isn’t: it’s quadrupling payments, locking them in to 2036, and making the scheme easier to abuse. Here are eight flaws in what is now being proposed - this time under a Sinn Féin minister.

Nama trial hears evidence of how allegedly massive fraud fell apart: Order to delete an invoice, audio recording and offshore millions A jury has heard dramatic evidence about how a top solicitor alleged to be behind a vast fraud saw a sophisticated plan unravel after his senior colleagues caught him with millions of pounds they knew...

A jury has heard dramatic evidence about how a top solicitor alleged to be behind a vast fraud saw a sophisticated plan unravel after his senior colleagues caught him with millions of pounds they knew nothing about.

Retired banker boasted in secret recording that he’d make millions from Nama deal – and of his top-level political access, jury told Frank Cushnahan was secretly recorded claiming that he would make millions from the Nama deal and boasting of his ability to influence First Minister Peter Robinson and other top politicians, a jury h...

Updated with lots of detail from this afternoon:
💻Coulter allegedly told Tughans’ IT manager to delete deal emails to ‘cover his tracks’;
🕵️‍♂️Coulter allegedly took over Isle of Man firm using his wife’s email address, using front company which hid his role.

In secret recording, Cushnahan boasted he’d make millions from Nama deal – and of his top-level political access, jury told Frank Cushnahan was secretly recorded claiming that he would make millions from the Nama deal and boasting of his ability to influence First Minister Peter Robinson and other top politicians, a jury h...

Nama trial day 3: Frank Cushnahan was secretly recorded; 90-minute conversation laced with expletives, references to the most senior politicians in Belfast and Dublin, confidential internal Nama minutes and an assurance for huge developers deep in debt.

‘Tell him he’s a greedy f**ker’: Nama jury shown emails revealing tensions over ‘odd’ deal with €16m fee to be split three ways A senior figure at a major US investment fund invited to bid for Nama's Northern Ireland loans described top Belfast solicitor Ian Coulter as “a greedy fker” for trying to get an allegedly corrupt €16...

A senior figure at a major US investment fund invited to bid for Nama's NI loans described top Belfast solicitor Ian Coulter as “a greedy fker” for trying to get an allegedly corrupt €16m success fee changed to £16m, Belfast Crown Court has been told.

Nama corruption trial told ‘dishonest’ Cushnahan abused his position to lobby key politicians and ‘gather intelligence’ Senior businessman Frank Cushnahan used his position with Nama to “get access to politicians” and “gather intelligence” which he wanted to use to improperly enrich himself, a jury was told today.

Nama trial, day two: Senior businessman Frank Cushnahan used his position with Nama to “get access to politicians” and “gather intelligence” which he wanted to use to improperly enrich himself, a jury was told today.

Watchdog lambasts Stormont for ongoing failures in its strategy to boost active travel Stormont has failed lamentably in meeting its own targets to encourage people out of cars, can’t prove it has spent public money properly — and is not even on course to be lawful, an Audit Office repo...

Stormont has failed lamentably in meeting its own targets to encourage people out of cars, can’t prove it has spent public money properly — and is not even on course to be lawful, a scathing Audit Office report has found. Another shambles.

Concerns some children might be vulnerable because NI education system doesn’t know where they are Northern Ireland’s education system has no idea how many children it’s responsible for.

Most people assume that since Victorian times it's been compulsory to send all children to school. It's not - and in fact, you don't even need to tell the state that your child should be in education.
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This is now a live case and for your own sake, as well as in the interests of justice, you should exercise extreme restraint in commenting on it due to the strict contempt of court rules. If you don't, and the trial collapses, you could end up in jail.

Nama trial day one: Top solicitor laundered £7.2m via Isle of Man account while ‘dishonest’ businessman ‘acted in the shadows’, court told A top Belfast solicitor engaged in laundering £9m as part of a corrupt deal for more than a billion pounds which involved a key figure from Northern Ireland’s business establishment, Belfast Crown Cou...

Nama trial day one: Top solicitor laundered £7.2m via Isle of Man account while ‘dishonest’ businessman ‘acted in the shadows’, court told. Key business figure was paid €1,000 to attend every Nama advisory meeting but was greedy for millions, jurors told.

Peter Vandermeersch: My fears for journalism’s future — and how you can help to save it Will trusted journalism survive the decade? That question echoed in my mind as I read the harrowing conclusions of a new report by the International News Media Association (INMA), which held its Europ...

Peter Vandermeersch, the outgoing head of @belfasttelegraph.co.uk owner Mediahuis's Irish division: "Print is vanishing. Big tech digital gatekeepers decide not just what news we see, but also what gets buried...this is about what sort of society we want to live in."

The night I nearly killed myself on the roads… and the second reason I’m a slower driver now It’s hard to describe the terror of being in a car when it suddenly becomes airborne at speed. The cliches are true. Time does slow to almost a standstill; your life does flash before your eyes.

The night I nearly killed myself on a dark road… and the second reason I’m a slower driver now.

Martin Mansergh: The English-born politician of unionist stock who was pivotal for NI peace process I last met Martin Mansergh at the end of June in the coffee shop of the National Gallery in Dublin. It was one of his regular haunts and where, almost 40 years ago, he first met the Redemptorist pries...

Reclusive and shy Fianna Fáil politician was the party’s wordsmith, played a pivotal role in the Northern Ireland peace process, and loyally advised Charles Haughey, Albert Reynolds and Bertie Ahern.

Largely unknown parliamentary veto on border poll exists — but Government dismisses possibility of a rogue minister Most people — even those with deep knowledge of the subject — would say confidently that the legal power to call a border poll rests with the Secretary of State alone. I believed so until two days ago...

Until two days ago, I believed the Secretary of State had the sole power to call a border poll. Remarkably, he doesn't. The Government says a little-known fetter on his power means the Commons or the Lords hold a veto. That could be incredibly messy.

The spying that wasn’t really spying: How PSNI’s silence made its actions seem far worse than they were Six months ago, the Belfast Telegraph reported allegations that the PSNI spied on the journalist Donal MacIntyre.

The spying that wasn’t really spying: How the PSNI’s silence made its actions seem far worse than they were. A perfect example of where saying nothing is not only not in the organisation's interest, but isn't in the public interest.