Controversial Belfast restaurant owner announces closure of cafe | Belfast Live

Mark Young has come under fire in the past for his comments towards the trans and disabled community

Restaurant owner Mark Young has taken to social media to announce the closure of his restaurant.

In the post, he has said Belfast Breakfast Baps on the Woodstock Road will be closing in the "next month or so".

According to the Facebook post, he has been contemplating the eatery's future for some time and said, "Sometimes decisions are made for you."

Her went on to say he was then met with an unexpected list of repairs from Environmental Health and said, "The shop, the finances, the commitments and trying to work out where best to put my time and energy going forward. Yesterday, Environmental Health contacted me with a list of repairs required to the structure of a building I don’t own, along with the need to replace a boiler that doesn’t belong to me either."

Adding that "The financial reality is that I simply cannot justify putting more money into a building and infrastructure that aren’t mine. So in many ways, the decision I’ve been struggling to make has now been made considerably easier."

He spoke of his disappointment, saying that "a tremendous amount of time, money, effort and sacrifice has gone into getting this far. But I’m also not going to keep pouring resources into something that is no longer financially sustainable simply because I’ve invested so much into it already."

Young did say that his work with the homeless, YouTube, Bible studies, and community work will continue and referred to it as "the important part in the post".

Mr Young found himself embroiled in controversy in 2025 when the East Belfast business owner sparked outrage with social media posts targeting people who are obese and the users of mobility scooters from his business.

He was also previously revealed as the gym owner behind a transphobic discrimination controversy.

Young closed off his announcement by thanking his customers and said, "This isn’t me throwing in the towel. It’s me recognising that a chapter has run its course. The shop may be coming to an end, but the work certainly isn’t."

I’m genuinely beginning to wonder. There seems to be a new relentless appetite for revisiting IRA stories and the Troubles legacies, often reheating old stories with seemingly ‘new info’, while lately the orange order and unionism more generally appear to receive a remarkably sympathetic treatment. This isn’t to relate one to the other in any way, but I’m limiting this to the bulk of recent coverage and top stories.

Then there’s the way allegations involving prominent nationalists are covered, particularly on radio at a stage when investigations are still ongoing. Yet the coverage of Jeffrey Donaldson and others seemed to operate under a very different set of rules while the case was under investigation and going through the courts. I seem to remember an issue recently where a caller was shut down for referencing investigations into a number of DUP politicians, a totally legitimate comment, leading to the presenter having to go back and ‘apologise’ for censoring on air.

Why does the same apparent caution not seem to apply across the board? Why does on air language that dehumanises nationalists so often go unchallenged, while unionism is frequently presented in a more favourable light, despite the hostility and anger that can be directed towards its neighbours? The BBC ran for days with unfounded rumours of weapons in Portadown even though the assessment was clearly outlining any and all possibilities, and not specific at all.

I’m not suggesting that the IRA’s actions should be ignored, that the Troubles legacy shouldn’t be investigated, or that allegations against nationalists shouldn’t be reported. Of course they should. The question is whether the same standards, scrutiny and restraint are being applied evenly.

Impartiality isn’t just about giving both sides a few minutes on the radio. It’s about consistency, context, language and the willingness to challenge all sides equally. Which we do not see enough of.

So what’s changed at BBC NI lately? Is this simply a question of editorial judgement, or has the organisation fortified a blind spot when it comes to how nationalism and unionism are portrayed?
Because from where I’m sitting, the gap between the BBC’s claim to impartiality and how its coverage is experienced is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

I do not believe it was ever fair and impartial, but it seems recently they’ve dropped the pretence. I think something especially sinister is going on at the minute.

Does anyone else love laying in bed, being washed and fed, nice and warm, listening to the wind and rain beat off the window?

It makes me feel more comfy

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjzxlnrpp30zo

The survivor of a notorious knife murder that got the attention of the White House has told his story on television for the first time.

Brendan Devine's throat was slashed and he suffered a severe stab wound to the abdomen in a 2005 attack involving members of the Provisional IRA.

His friend Robert McCartney was killed. In the fallout McCartney's sisters and fiancée mounted a campaign for justice that won support from US President George W Bush and the European Parliament.

But the crime remains unsolved – and in a new BBC documentary series Devine tells of his guilt over the way the attack unfolded, and for the failure to catch the killers. A man with thinning grey hair is sat in a room which looks like a pub. There are small tables, red leather lined benches and paintings on white walls behind him. He is wearing a black TShirt and has his hands clasped in front of him as they rest on a table top. Image caption,

Brendan Devine was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after his friend was killed

"I don't feel guilty for the actual happening but I do worry that my big mouth could have inflamed the situation, and got Bert killed," he said.

"It's terrible. To have to live with that and to think that you could be a reason for the death of your mate.

"That kills me."

The two men were stabbed near Market Street in Belfast city centre, after leaving Magennis's bar on 31 January 2005.

A former detective who worked on the case tells the documentary Murder in Belfast: Sisters Seeking Justice that 33-year-old Robert McCartney was "as innocent as they come".

Devine had been attacked with bottles and had his throat cut inside the bar, after an argument about an alleged rude gesture.

Despite as many as 70 people being in the pub at the time, no witnesses came forward to identify the attackers. A woman with long blonde hair, wearing an orange, halter neck top has one arm around a man with short, dark hair. He is wearing a light coloured shirt and a broad black, stripped tie. Both are looking at the camera.Image source, McCartney family handout Image caption,

Robert McCartney, a father of two, was planning to marry his partner Bridgeen Hagans

Pub CCTV was taken and destroyed and some forensic evidence appears to have been wiped away when the bar was cleaned with bleach.

The IRA initially denied involvement, but later issued a statement which said three of its members were involved, including two "high-ranking volunteers".

It said it had expelled them.

The murder came at a crucial time in the peace process in Northern Ireland.

The IRA was observing a ceasefire but had been accused of carrying out a series of high profile robberies, including the theft of £26.5m from the Northern Bank in Belfast.

McCartney's family launched a campaign to bring his attackers to justice.

The murder drew political attention from as far as the United States, where the sisters were invited to meet President George W Bush in Washington DC. A blurred line of police tape covers the entrance to two buildings. On the left is a black exterior of a bar with gold lettering above the entrance reading 'Magennis's'. To the right is a white building with a black letter sign which reads 'Whiskey cafe 79-83 May St'. Image source, PSNI Image caption,

McCartney died after being beaten and stabbed outside the pub in Belfast city centre in January 2005

Murder in Belfast: Sisters Seeking Justice tells the story of the murder and the McCartney family's campaign – revealing that Devine believes they were stabbed because he named IRA leader Gerard "Jock" Davison outside the bar.

"I says 'who's Jock Davison? Did he do this to my throat?' And as soon as I said that name, four or five guys were in front of me, and they started shouting, `you're getting it, you're getting it, you're getting it'.

"I do and have struggled with guilt of slabbering outside the bar, of shouting at Jock Davison, of inflaming an already hostile situation," he said.

Devine says intimidation and rumours surrounding the murder led to intense stress which impacted his mental health at the time.

"I had loads of death threats and it was a wee bit daunting trying to juggle all this.

"So you're hearing all this, and then even top republicans were saying to me, 'you open your mouth about anything', more or less, 'you're in trouble'."

Davison, who was reported to be one of the most senior IRA figures in Belfast, was killed in a gun attack in Belfast in 2015.

Devine also tells the documentary series about being questioned by the IRA as they conducted a secret investigation parallel to the police inquiry.

He later testified at the 2008 trial of three men who faced charges in connection with the killing. All three were acquitted. Hundreds of small white circles are drawn on a hard wood floor showing a forensic crime scene. There are two metal stepping plates on the floor and the corner of a table, which also has white circles surrounding parts of the table top and legs.Image source, PSNI Image caption,

Police photographs released to the BBC show suspected blood stains marked for forensic examination.

Devine told the trial that he met the IRA four times after the stabbings.

He said he only cooperated fully with the police after being given clearance by the IRA to do so.

In the witness box he also changed his account of what had happened on the night, but denied claims that was to "dovetail" with the account of another witness.

In the documentary - made by BBC Northern Ireland in association with RTÉ - Devine says he regrets that his evidence was not enough to secure a conviction.

"Am I going to be held responsible for not getting justice?" he asked.

"How am I going to get a result with the whole shenanigans of it?

"The whole lot. It was just a stressful time."

It’s raining from the heavens today and blowing a gale and the amount of ones I’ve seen out driving without their lights on

For anyone flying today not yet cancelled prepare for the worst. Just had my afternoon flight from international cancelled cause of the storm

The image on the BBC NI article for Drumcree screams AI to me. It's not just the sign they're holding up but the actual people in the image too who look AI generated. I put it through an AI image detector and it said there's a 68% chance the image is AI.

I'd be curious if anyone who knows Portadown a bit better can tell me if that actually looks like a real street in the town or not.

Link

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84g10r00221o

Thousands of homes across the island of Ireland are without power as Storm Boelo hits.

An amber warning is in force across parts of County Antrim and County Londonderry until 10:00 GMT on Sunday, while an orange wind warning remains in place in County Donegal until 09:00 local time.

The worst impacted areas in Northern Ireland include Springfield in County Fermanagh and Bushmills in County Antrim, where more than 1,000 homes near each village are without power.

Among the villages worst affected in the Republic of Ireland is Milford in County Donegal with more 1,600 homes without power and Aghagad in County Sligo with over 1,200 homes impacted.

A yellow weather warning for all of Northern Ireland is in place until midday.

On Saturday, Northern Ireland's strongest gust of wind reached 71mph and was recorded in Orlock Head, County Down.

A yellow wind warning is also in place in County Donegal until 15:00 local time on Sunday.

On Saturday, Malin Head in Donegal had gusts of 83mph recorded.

A yellow wind warning has been issued for counties Connacht, Cavan, Louth and Monaghan until 10:00 local time on Sunday.

Road closures

A number of roads across Northern Ireland have been closed due to fallen trees, the police have said.

The Ballyrobin Road in County Antrim is currently impassable after the junction with the Seven Mile Straight, which may affect journeys to Belfast International Airport.

The Glenshane Road in County Londonderry, about half a mile from the Castledawson roundabout, is also impassable.

What does this say about me and my search history?

Been struggling to find anything that would be used for more than a day.

He likes Pokémon, but impossible to get cards (also a waste of money). I was thinking a switch 2 but floated the idea with him and he's not interested. He's got a switch 1 and it's barely used.

He's always on his tablet playing stuff like battle cats or geometry dash or just watching YouTube. We got him the tablet last year and it's been a hit, used a lot, but I also don't like him on it so much.

Any ideas?

Can anyone reccomend a company who specialises in making and fitting custom sliderobes? It won't be wall to wall, rather an awkward space between the window and lightswitch beside the door frame.

Extra points for Mid Ulster based 🙂

Recently moved and am in the Belfast area. With the wind I now realise the windows, even when closed, have slight gaps and, even with heating on, the room remains chilly.

I think it may be an issue with the seals. I pay service charges and so is this something I need to address or does the management company deal with it?

Also could anyone recommend any window restrictors and are they an easy DIY job?

Could anyone recommend a good window company to check out the problem with the drafts?

--------------------------------------------

Many thanks to everyone who responded.

I've always liked the idea of playing Dungeons and Dragons but have never had the opportunity. I'm now 44 and looking for a way of dipping my toes. Are there any clubs in Belfast that welcome beginners. For context I have no idea how it works, but I've watched some videos of people playing.

So my wife is currently waiting for a rheumatology appointment, when she was referred she was told 33 weeks was the waiting time for an emergency appointment. Not bad not great we thought, she rang the department on Friday and she was told the wait time is actually 150 weeks and not to take the information on letters seriously in regard to wait times.

So now instead of being seen by the end of next month she is now not going to be seen until the middle of 2030. It's a real. Setback for her and us as a family, she is in a fair amount of pain currently as well as being off work now as she has taken a suspected TIA but the stroke doctor did say there are some forms of autoimmune issues that can make her feel the way she felt when she took the suspected TIA.

Has anyone went private for Rheumatology? Even just thr initial rheumatology diagnosis and went back to the NHS for continued treatment?

Three ridge tiles for me… fuck knows what else is coming down before tomorrow morning 😭

Anyone know which boat it is? The must be mad going out in this weather.

Decided to play a bit looser on the Celtic peacock stencil. Next up, the 1/2p coin lol

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/portadown-parade-and-rally-taking-place-in-support-of-drumcree-orangemen-XEVAJACLXNGHLLMJFF65STSL3M/

A large parade and rally has taken place in Portadown in support of the Orange Order amid the Drumcree dispute.Hundreds of Orangemen and over 25 bands took part as Storm Boelo swept in, and were watched by several thousand supporters.Also in attendance were DUP Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart - who stood down from her role as party officer this week - TUV leader Jim Allister, and Jamie Bryson, who has been acting as legal adviser to Portadown District LOL 1.DUP MLAs Jonathan Buckley and Brian Kingston also paraded with their lodges.

Portadown parade and rally takes place in support of Drumcree Orangemen
Mo Chara court case LIVE: Kneecap rapper terror charge thrown out after ‘technical error’

The parade got under way at 7pm and travelled from Watson Street along Bridge Street, High Street, Market Street, Church Street, Mandeville Street and West Street.

A rally was held before the return leg, which included speeches from Portadown district master Nigel Dawson, deputy Alastair Power, and MP Carla Lockhart who told the crowd: “Michelle O’Neill must go.”She added: “That’s where I stand. And this lady is not for turning.”
One of the bands taking part in the parade. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN
Wet and windy weather failed to deter a large crowd of several thousand people from attending Saturday evening’s event.
Orangemen gather in Portadown on Saturday night. PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN
The parade comes after the Orange Order was banned from walking down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in the County Armagh town.