The Belfast Telegraph is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News & Media.

It was first published as the Belfast Evening Telegraph on 1 September 1870 by brothers William and George Baird. Its first edition cost half a penny and ran to four pages covering the Franco-Prussian war and local news.

Its competitors are The News Letter and The Irish News but the English red tops are also a threat, selling at a cheaper price than the 'Tele'. Ten years ago it was selling more than 100,000 copies.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper still had an average daily circulation of 94,540 between June 2004 and January 2005. But since then sales have fallen steadily year on year, the average sales figure for the first six months of 2009 showing a large drop of 10.5% year on year to 68,024, then to just over 66,000. There was a slight upturn in the first six months of 2010.

The Belfast Telegraph was entirely broadsheet until 19 February 2005, when the Saturday morning edition was introduced and all Saturday editions were converted to compact. The weekday morning "Compact Edition", launched on 22 March 2005, has struggled to replicate the evening newspaper's success. Its editorial content is much more tabloid, with a greater entertainment story count than the evening paper. Much prominence is given to English based sport, and some general features/ columns are shared with the Independent and Irish Independent. The evening edition of the newspaper was originally called the "Sixth Late", and "Sixth Late Tele" was a familiar cry made by vendors in Belfast City Centre in the past.

Coordinates: 54°35′49″N 5°55′48″W / 54.597°N 5.930°W / 54.597; -5.930

Belfast (from Irish: Béal Feirste, meaning "mouth of the shoal") is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the fourteenth largest city in the United Kingdom and second largest on the island of Ireland. It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. The city of Belfast has a population of 267,500 and lies at the heart of the Belfast urban area, which has a population of 579,276. The Larger Urban Zone, as defined by the European Union, has a total population 641,638. Belfast was granted city status in 1888.

Historically, Belfast has been a centre for the Irish linen industry (earning the nickname "Linenopolis"), tobacco production, rope-making and shipbuilding: the city's main shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff, which built the well-known RMS Titanic, propelled Belfast on to the global stage in the early 20th century as the biggest and most productive shipyard in the world. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, establishing its place as a global industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. Industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast, if briefly, the biggest city in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century and the city's industrial and economic success was cited by Ulster unionist opponents of Home Rule as a reason why Ireland should shun devolution and later why Ulster in particular would fight to resist it.

Rory McIlroy, MBE (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer from Holywood in County Down. He is formerly the World Number One. On 19 June 2011 he won the U.S. Open, setting a record score of 16-under-par on his way to an eight-shot victory. He has been cited as the most exciting young prospect in golf and having the potential to become one of the highest earners in sports in terms of endorsements.

McIlroy has represented Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and Ireland as both an amateur and a professional. He had a successful amateur career, topping the World Amateur Golf Ranking for one week as a 17-year-old in 2007. Later that year he turned professional and soon established himself on the European Tour. He had his first win on the European Tour in 2009, and on the PGA Tour in 2010. He represented Europe in the 2010 Ryder Cup.

McIlroy was born in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. He is the only child of Gerry and Rosie (née McDonald) McIlroy; he attended St. Patrick's Primary School and then Sullivan Upper School.

Steve Harley (born Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice, 27 February 1951,Deptford, London, England) is an English singer and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s rock group Cockney Rebel, with whom he still occasionally tours (albeit with many personnel changes through the years).

As a child, Harley suffered from polio, spending four years in hospital up to the age of 16. It was in hospital that he first heard Bob Dylan, inspiring him to a career of words and music. At the age of 10, he received a guitar from his parents, and he played violin with the school orchestra. He left the Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College without completing his advanced level exams and took an A-level in English in his mid-30s.

In 1968, at the age of 17, Harley began work as an accountant with the Daily Express, from which he progressed to become a reporter in a number of local Essex newspapers for a duration of three years. Later, he returned to London to work for the East London Advertiser.

Harley started out playing in bars and clubs in the early 1970s, mainly at folk venues on open-mike nights. He also busked around London on the Underground and in Portobello Road. While auditioning for folk band Odin in 1971, he met violinist John Crocker, with whom he formed Cockney Rebel in late 1972.

Glenn Hughes (born 21 August 1951) is an English rock bassist and vocalist, best known for playing bass and performing vocals for funk rock pioneers Trapeze and the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. In addition to being an active session musician, Hughes also maintains a notable solo career, and currently fronts the supergroup Black Country Communion.

Hughes fronted Finders Keepers in the 1960s as bassist/vocalist, as well as the British funk rock band Trapeze. Hughes was recruited to replace Roger Glover as bassist in Deep Purple in 1973, though he considered himself a vocalist as opposed to a bassist. When David Coverdale was later hired as Deep Purple's lead vocalist, the two would ultimately share lead vocal duties in the band until their breakup in 1976. Battling severe cocaine addiction, Hughes embarked on a solo career following his departure from the group.

In 1982, he joined with ex-Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form Hughes/Thrall, they released one self-titled album which went virtually unnoticed at the time but is now often cited by many fans/musicians to be their favourite Glenn Hughes album. In the mid-1980s, Hughes recorded several different albums with bands and artists including Phenomena (Phenomena, Phenomena II: Dream Runner), Gary Moore (Run For Cover), and Black Sabbath (Seventh Star, though this was to have been a solo album by Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, and only came out as a Sabbath album due to record label pressure).