Leading journalists to leave BBC News NI
- Published
(L-R) Kevin Magee, Mark Devenport, Maggie Taggart and Mervyn Jess are taking voluntary redundancy
Four of Northern Ireland's best-known journalists are to leave BBC News NI.
Political editor Mark Devenport, senior journalists Maggie Taggart and Mervyn Jess and investigations correspondent Kevin Magee have decided to take voluntary redundancy.
All have been at the BBC for a number of decades and have broken and covered many high-profile stories.
Head of BBC News NI Adam Smyth said their professionalism and dedication had been "beyond inspiring".
The BBC carried out a trawl for voluntary redundancy in June and the four journalists have decided to leave as part of that process.
Experience
Mark Devenport joined the BBC as a trainee reporter in 1986 and became the political editor of BBC Northern Ireland in 2001.
He covered the IRA ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement as the BBC's Ireland correspondent and spent two years in New York as the United Nations correspondent.
He also presented BBC Radio Ulster's longest running political programme Inside Politics and has been central to coverage of many elections.
Maggie Taggart served as BBC News NI's arts and education correspondent for 20 years from 1995 to 2015.
She began her career in journalism in the late 1970s and has presented many flagship programmes for the BBC including Good Morning Ulster and Scene Around Six.
She also worked for BBC Radio 4's Women's Hour, and since 2015 has been a senior journalist in the Northern Ireland newsroom.
Investigative journalism
Mervyn Jess joined BBC News NI in 1988 after beginning his career in journalism in the late 1970s and is one of BBC Newsline's most familiar faces.
He reported extensively on the Drumcree dispute in the 1990s and many other contentious parades.
He also reported for the BBC from Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein and later was embedded with Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish Guards on two separate tours during the conflict in Afghanistan.
Head of news Adam Smyth described the journalists as being “embedded in the fabric” of the BBC News NI newsroom
Kevin Magee joined the BBC in 1992 and has specialised in investigative journalism.
After 12 years as a reporter the Spotlight programme, he became investigations correspondent for BBC News NI in 2015.
He has won a number of awards for his investigative work and has also made documentaries and programmes for BBC Gaeilge.
'Embedded in the fabric'
Head of BBC News NI Adam Smyth said all four would be missed by their colleagues.
"Mark, Kevin, Maggie and Mervyn have reported on, investigated and uncovered countless significant stories in the public interest with the utmost diligence, tenacity, expertise and impartiality," he said.
"They are embedded in the fabric of the BBC News NI newsroom and BBC Northern Ireland as a whole and the professionalism and dedication they have given to their craft has been beyond inspiring."
"While we will miss them as respected colleagues, mentors and, most of all, friends, we are happy for them and wish them every success and happiness in the future."