Protest held over cuts to BBC Radio Foyle breakfast show

Protestors gathered outside the station in Derry on Friday afternoon

A protest has been held over cuts to The Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Foyle.

A half-hour breakfast news programme is to replace Radio Foyle's current two-hour show and it will lose its lunchtime half-hour programme but hourly news bulletins will continue.

More than 100 people gathered outside the station on Friday afternoon.

BBC Northern Ireland has said that the 30-minute breakfast programme would "have an exclusive focus on stories from and about the north west."

BBC NI interim director Adam Smyth said the changes "reflect our commitment to Foyle as a production centre for local and region-wide output".

"News will remain a core part of its work, focussing on stories and issues affecting BBC audiences across the whole of the north west," he added.

Mr Smyth also said the BBC was investing in Foyle to "develop digital newsgathering and output" in response to "changing audience needs".

Protestors were joined by representatives from Sinn Féin, the DUP, Alliance, UUP, SDLP and People Before Profit at the rally.

Organiser Davy McCauley says people in the north west will not accept the cuts

Davy McCauley, who helped organise Friday's rally, has been listening to Radio Foyle for about 40 years and said people in the north west would not accept the cuts.

Mr McCauley said the BBC had shown "disdain" for the people of the north west with the schedule announced on Thursday.

Retired local school principal Marie Lindsay said she attended the protest because she was "very angry about the proposals".

Ms Lindsay said The Breakfast Show was the "heartbeat" of the community and that a 30-minute programme was not enough.

The change to the breakfast programme is part of a number of Radio Foyle and Radio Ulster schedule and programme changes announced by the BBC on Thursday.

National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Irish secretary Seamus Dooley said the new schedule for BBC Radio Foyle was "deeply disappointing and leaves the NUJ with no option but to put this matter into dispute".

Mr Dooley said the union would now ballot members over industrial action.

He said a major concern for the NUJ is that 10 staff remain at risk of redundancy at the station, adding that management had given the NUJ "no assurances in writing" that current staff would remain in Derry.

The BBC said there had been "lengthy and detailed engagement with the trade unions about our savings and renewal plans". A spokesperson said it expected staffing levels to remain unchanged.

Elected representatives like Foyle MP Colum Eastwood addressed the crowd

Speaking earlier on Friday, DUP MP for East Londonderry Gregory Campbell said he was glad there was some movement from the BBC but that he remained concerned about the proposed breakfast show.

"I think a half-hour programme is better than nothing but it will not do justice to serious news stories," Mr Campbell told BBC Radio Foyle.

"When there are big issues or events occur and interviews are required and needed to convey a message for people to get information, you don't want it to sound like snaps.

"That is what, unfortunately, could well unfold if you have only got 30 minutes to do everything like sport, weather, events and try and get out into the community - it just won't be possible to do that."

BBC Radio Foyle was founded in 1979 at the height of the Troubles to provide more localised coverage of Derry

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said: "The BBC has listened a bit but it hasn't listened enough and I think it's making a mistake here."

The SDLP leader said the proposed changes could have people in the north west "tuning out and not tuning in to BBC".

"A half-hour programme is absolutely not adequate," Derry and Strabane District Council mayor Sandra Duffy said.

"Our local issues will not be covered. We know that Radio Ulster does a great job but for local issues they will not deal with them or cover them in the same way as BBC Radio Foyle."