Latest news with #KieranDoherty
Belfast Telegraph
22-07-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Meet the Belfast man behind Jeremy Clarkson's new ‘Who Wants to Be A Millionaire' spin-off quiz show
Kieran Doherty, chief executive of Stellify Media in Belfast, talks to Margaret Canning about working with Jeremy Clarkson and 11 years of the TV production company he co-founded It's the name behind some of the UK's biggest light entertainment and quiz shows, including the daddy of them all, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? And at home in Northern Ireland, Stellify Media has made factual and reality shows like Beauty Queen and Single, and it's been working on its first docudrama, Titanic Sinks Tonight.
BBC News
08-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Kieran Doherty: Inquest delays leave family 'at square one'
The family of a Real IRA man murdered by fellow members in 2010 have said that delays to an inquest into his killing have left them feeling like they are "back at square one".The body of Kieran Doherty, 31, was found dumped on the Braehead Road, Londonderry, on 24 February a pre-inquest hearing on Tuesday, a barrister for his family said they were no further forward in securing information for authorities in the Republic of Irish government's silence on what material it held in relation to the killing, the barrister said, was either "through incompetence or deliberate". Kieran Doherty was kidnapped by members of his own organisation in Derry in was stripped, bound and shot dead before his body was dumped on the outskirts of the city, near he Irish dissident republican group, the Real IRA, said it killed him. 'No further forward' The family's barrister was reacting to a letter received from Ireland's Chief State Solicitor's office in which they referred to witness evidence as opposed to information which they had been asked for.A counsel for the coroner told the hearing the lack of information from the Irish authorities was the "chief impediment" to the inquest moving Doherty family barrister said after "seven and a half years of letters and hearings" they were no further forward in securing this barrister said that there was a pattern with the Irish government withholding information in a number of other case including that of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, the Dublin/Monaghan bombings case and in relation to the Omagh bombing inquiry. The Doherty family, he said, had been waiting 15 years for the truth, "with the British government and MI5 (the Security Service) at one end and the Irish government, who can't even tell us what information they possess, at the other."Coroner Brian Sherrard said the sense of frustration was suggested that there might be some merit in asking a representative of the Irish authorities to come and address the hearing to explain their position. Mr Sherrard further suggested that he would write to the Chief State Solicitor, making clear what they were hearing was adjourned and another preliminary hearing will be held on 7 May.
The Independent
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ireland accused of ‘wasting seven years' in Kieran Doherty inquest
The Irish government has been accused of 'wasting' more than seven years in an inquest into the death of a dissident republican. Kieran Doherty, 31, was found dead on the Braehead Road in Londonderry close to the Irish border on February 24, 2010. He had been kidnapped, stripped, bound and shot. He was reported to have been involved with the dissident republican group the Real IRA, which claimed responsibility for his death. A number of preliminary hearings have taken place ahead of a full inquest into his death, however those involved are waiting for information from Ireland's police, An Garda Siochana, and Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO). A preliminary hearing on Tuesday morning heard a letter dated April 7 had been received from the CSSO which 'sets out a procedure' under the 2019 International Co-operation Act around a request for witness evidence. Ian Skelt KC, counsel to Coroner Brian Sherrard, described it as a 'matter of concern'. 'It is not witnesses that you are seeking but material, and there has been quite a long history of your office corresponding and interacting with the CSSO, seeking material, and it may be something of a surprise that we've received this letter, framed as it is, as a request for witness evidence without specifically referring to material, and there had been ongoing correspondence about the supply of material,' he said. Mr Sherrard said it will be very difficult for the inquest to proceed without first knowing what material, if anything, gardai may hold concerning Mr Doherty and the circumstances around his death. Stephen Toal KC, acting for the Doherty family, said they feel they are back to square one with the last seven-and-a-half years having been wasted. He said the coroner's office 'cannot be faulted', having first contacted the southern authorities about the case in 2017, and having 'done everything to bring it to this point'. 'However seven-and-a-half years have now been wasted and after all that time the Irish state is still silent on what information they hold,' he told the hearing. 'It's unfortunate to say this, but it is either incompetence or it is deliberate and it follows a familiar pattern to all of us who deal with cases in this area.' Mr Toal said there were similar delays and 'years wasted' in the inquest into the death of GAA official Sean Brown. 'There seems to be a fault in the system, and recent examples only make that worse. We have the Dublin Monaghan bombings case where the Irish government was asked by the Police Ombudsman to deliver relevant files, and just like this case seven years passed and nothing was done, and those victims had to bring judicial review proceedings down in Dublin to force this issue,' he said. 'We also know that this Irish government have refused to establish a parallel inquiry into the Omagh bomb, and all of those things lead this Doherty family to conclude that this Irish government are simply not making any effort and trying to avoid accountability by whatever means, and that is a matter of grave concern to them. 'As things stand, the Doherty family have now spent 15 years waiting for the truth. At one end you have the British government and MI5 whose role as we all know in this inquest into this death is dealt with in a report by Lord Carlisle, and at the other end we have the Irish government who are being even more obstructive because they're not even telling us what they possess. 'Its really really difficult to see how this matter is going to be progressed without genuine engagement from the Irish government and its state agencies.' Mr Sherrard pointed out the Irish government is not represented in the matter to answer to any criticisms. Mr Skelt said the coroner can invite representatives from the Irish government and An Garda Siochana to attend and engage. Mr Toal said he would welcome the Irish government's attendance, but said the family remains sceptical. 'The simple solution to this is they simply commit to writing what they are going to do to progress this inquest … just tell us what information you have and how long it will take you to provide that to this inquest,' he said. Mr Sherrard indicated he favoured inviting the Irish government to send a representative to attend a hearing, expressing concern about the 'considerable drift' in the case. 'Just as we thought that perhaps we may be able to make some progress, this has rather taken the rug from under my feet,' he added. 'I propose to write again to the Chief State Solicitor's Office … and to alert them to the fact that a date has been placed for a further preliminary, and to invite them to respond in writing and also to extend an invitation should they wish to defend their position, or to assert their position at the inquest. I will certainly make room for them to be heard in terms of this preliminary step.' Another preliminary hearing has provisionally been planned to take place on May 7.
