Sam McBride
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sjamcbride.bsky.social
Sam McBride
@sjamcbride.bsky.social
Northern Ireland Editor of the Belfast Telegraph & Sunday Independent. Author of Burned: The Inside Story of the Cash-for-Ash Scandal. Any views mine alone.
Pinned
📢 Some news from me: I've written a book with the erudite and eloquent Fintan O'Toole in which we each argue for - and then against - Irish unity, setting out objectively what seem to us each side's best arguments, and the issues people across the island of Ireland should consider.
Don’t dare call Jeffrey Epstein a paedophile: The inside story of Northern Ireland celebrity lawyer Paul Tweed's work to clean up the vile billionaire’s image, threatening the media on his behalf. Neither man would ever have thought we'd get to see this.
Don’t dare call Epstein a paedophile: Inside story of top NI lawyer’s work to clean up vile billionaire’s image, threatening media on his behalf
It was early 2011 and Jeffrey Epstein desperately needed help cleaning up his dirty image.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
February 7, 2026 at 8:02 AM
In Saturday's Belfast Telegraph: An important and unusually long read on Jeffrey Epstein and a highly significant link to Northern Ireland. I've been working on this all week and it involves a matter of substantial public importance.
February 6, 2026 at 7:06 PM
🎧 Podcast (no paywall) with @ciarandunbarrach.bsky.social:
How Frank Cushnahan was cleared after four-month Nama fraud trial - and what comes next.
Nama trial: How Frank Cushnahan was cleared after four-month fraud trial
A jury has cleared veteran Belfast business figure Frank Cushnahan of wrong-doing.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Weeks into Nama trial, Frank Cushnahan and his lawyers took a big gamble which can only now be explained - but the former top business figure's legal problems aren't yet over.
Weeks into Nama trial, Frank Cushnahan and his lawyers took a big gamble which can only now be explained
More than two months into the massive Nama corruption trial, Frank Cushnahan and his lawyers took a key decision which was essentially a gamble, the details of which can only now be reported.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Breaking News: Four months after his fraud trial began, a jury has cleared veteran Belfast business figure Frank Cushnahan of dishonestly failing to disclose he was in line for millions of pounds from the sale of Nama’s Northern Ireland loans in 2014.
Jury finds Frank Cushnahan not guilty of fraud after mammoth Nama corruption trial
Four months after his fraud trial began, a jury has cleared veteran Belfast business figure Frank Cushnahan of dishonestly failing to disclose he was in line for millions of pounds from the sale of Na...
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
February 2, 2026 at 2:49 PM
There is a compelling practical case for an Irish passport office in Belfast. None of the historic objections endures to any significant extent. It is increasingly hard to explain this situation when there is such an office in Dublin, in Cork & in London.
Why it’s way past time for an Irish passport office in Northern Ireland
Why is there no Irish passport office in Belfast?
m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
February 1, 2026 at 10:15 AM
Stormont can’t go on like this. It is a broken and a hapless administration whose rambling incoherence is now excruciating. The Executive is at open war with itself. The 'legislative' Assembly has spent just 9 minutes this year discussing NI legislation.
Stormont can’t go on like this: It is a broken and a hapless administration whose rambling incoherence is now excruciating
Few U-turns in Stormont’s history have been both as sudden and significant.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 31, 2026 at 9:56 AM
After almost two full days of deliberations, the jury in the Nama fraud trial - now just involving one charge against Frank Cushnahan - still hasn't been able to reach a verdict. Madam Justice McBride has sent them home for the weekend.
January 30, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Frank Cushnahan has “a big mouth” and “builds himself up into something that isn’t true”, his lawyer has told a jury as the senior business figure’s defence came to a close in Belfast Crown Court.
My client has a ‘big mouth’ and ‘builds himself up into something that isn’t true’, lawyer tells jury as Nama trial defence ends
Frank Cushnahan has “a big mouth” and “builds himself up into something that isn’t true”, his lawyer has told a jury as the senior business figure’s defence came to a close in Belfast Crown Court.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 4:15 PM
The Belfast Telegraph - read and appreciated far beyond Belfast. Thanks, @thejeremyvine.bsky.social.
January 28, 2026 at 1:37 PM
On 16 February, I'll be discussing the arguments for and against a united Ireland in Drumalis - a fascinating place in Larne which once was a grand home owned by Ulster Scots Presbyterians & from where the 1914 UVF gun-running was organised, but now is a Catholic retreat centre.
January 27, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Ex-Nama adviser Frank Cushnahan ‘spouted nonsense’, his lawyer tells jury, because ‘he can’t help himself’ – but case against him is ‘hopeless’. Barrister asks why his elderly client would go into the witness box against Crown KC ‘at the top of his game’.
Cushnahan ‘spouted nonsense’, his lawyer tells jury, because ‘he can’t help himself’ – but case against him is ‘hopeless’
The case against former Nama adviser Frank Cushnahan is “utterly hopeless”, his barrister today told a jury as the trial moves into the final days before a verdict on the senior Belfast business figur...
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 2:32 PM
The NI civil service is going backwards, costing vastly more and employing more staff while outcomes get worse, a devastating audit report reveals. After RHI, Jayne Brady was appointed to reform & costs £290,000 a year - but a key failure is leadership.
Civil service going backwards, auditors find – costing vastly more money, with more staff and a lavishly-paid boss brought in to fix it
The civil service is going backwards, costing vastly more and employing more staff while outcomes get worse, a devastating report by auditors has revealed.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Despite the DUP's deception, the Irish Sea border is hardening — and the Stormont committee it trumpeted is excruciating to behold. EU rules are neither being enforced strictly nor removed. The situation remains a mess that's awkward for everyone.
Irish Sea border is hardening, despite the DUP’s deception — and the Stormont committee it trumpeted is excruciating to behold
The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly, Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have said.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 24, 2026 at 11:13 AM
NI public sector workers could share in up to £100m in compensation – but have just days to apply for potentially getting it, a senior solicitor has said. The case centres on 'hurt feelings' over how super-generous final salary pensions were ended.
Public sector workers could share in £100m compensation… but have just days to apply in ‘extremely urgent’ response
Public sector workers could share in up to £100m in compensation – but have just days to apply for potentially getting it, a senior solicitor has said.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 21, 2026 at 8:55 AM
Leaving India after four magical days at the Jaipur Literature Festival with Fintan O'Toole where we were talking about For and Against a United Ireland. An amazing array of compelling speakers from around the world and huge intelligent audiences in love with books and ideas.
January 18, 2026 at 1:49 PM
The Irish unity dilemma almost no one has considered, but which would impact everyone
The Irish unity dilemma almost no one has considered, but which would impact everyone
More than half a century ago, the Rostrevor-born architect of the economic model which has shaped modern Ireland wrote a confidential note to the Taoiseach in which he set out a heterodox analysis of ...
m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 7:56 AM
While blindingly obvious to anyone with even a vague concept of how X works, it's nevertheless remarkable to see X itself set out so starkly it is "optimised for...hatred & calls to (or justifications of) violence...the design isn't neutral — it's profit-optimized for emotion": x.com/i/grok/share...
January 13, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Why doesn't Sinn Féin want to tax the rich? A once-radical party which had a quasi-Marxist economic policy is now getting the poor to subsidise the rich. SF not only won't target wealthy people or huge corporations - but is making clear it doesn't want to. What's going on?
Pragmatism or hypocrisy? Sinn Fein’s refusal to hammer the rich raises intriguing questions… and answers
Why don’t Sinn Féin want to tax the rich? The party have often been described as Marxist — but many in Sinn Féin understandably bristle at the term, as it’s almost always used pejoratively.
www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Sam McBride
@fotoole.bsky.social discusses the preconditions surrounding the possability of a border poll.

You can watch the re-broadcast of #RTÉTwip at 11:05pm on @rteone and at 6:30 and 10:00pm on the RTÉ News Channel 📺
January 11, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Sam McBride
Journalist @fotoole.bsky.social speaks on the financial factors involved with a United Ireland.

You can watch the re-broadcast of #RTÉTwip at 11:05pm on @rteone and at 6:30 and 10:00pm on the RTÉ News Channel 📺
January 11, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Sam McBride
Journalist @fotoole.bsky.social on the possible benefits that a United Ireland could bestow on future generations.

You can watch the re-broadcast of #RTÉTwip at 11:05pm on @rteone and at 6:30 and 10:00pm on the RTÉ News Channel 📺
January 11, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Sam McBride
@sjamcbride.bsky.social's thoughts on potential reignited violence as a result of discussing a United Ireland.

You can watch the re-broadcast of #RTÉTwip at 11:05pm on @rteone and at 6:30 and 10:00pm on the RTÉ News Channel 📺
January 11, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Sam McBride
Journalist @sjamcbride.bsky.social speaks about the possibility of Northern Ireland's secretary of state calling for a border poll.

You can watch the re-broadcast of #RTÉTwip at 11:05pm on @rteone and at 6:30 and 10:00pm on the RTÉ News Channel 📺
January 11, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Reposted by Sam McBride
Today on #RTETwip @aine-lawlor.bsky.social speaks to journalists @sjamcbride.bsky.social and @fotoole.bsky.social as well as minister of state Neale Richmond, Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway Walsh and DUP MLA Phillip Brett.

#Unity #UnitedIreland will be up for discussion.

Tune in today at noon 📺
January 11, 2026 at 9:51 AM