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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Niall Deeney

NUJ issues BBC election strike warning ahead of final Radio Foyle Breakfast broadcast

The last full-length Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Foyle is set to air tomorrow morning ahead of planned cuts.

The BBC is pressing ahead with a decision to axe the two-hour long, flagship morning news programme on the regional station in favour of a 30-minute slot.

This is in spite of multiple protests and opposition from the National Union of Journalists, alongside politicians from all five major political parties in Northern Ireland.

Read more: BBC urged to 'meet halfway' over Radio Foyle cuts as 'appetite for strike' grows

The Breakfast Show on Radio Foyle airs each weekday in Derry and across the wider north west region from 7-9am.

Belfast Live understands several journalists at Radio Foyle continue to face uncertainty over their futures.

The NUJ, meanwhile, has said a ballot on industrial action is underway and could lead to disruption to news coverage during the forthcoming local government elections.

Seamus Dooley, assistant general secretary at the NUJ, told Belfast Live: "There are no current negotiations. The BBC are intent on proceeding with the cuts to the Breakfast Show as it currently exists. We think that is a great mistake. We have a ballot for industrial action underway.

"The proposal is a half-hour programme and we believe that is entirely unrealistic. We had suggested a one-hour long programme as a minimum to provide the comprehensive coverage that is needed for Derry and the North West."

He continued: "It is ironic that in the week where we've been talking about celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement the BBC should be intent on a regressive move that disadvantages such a significant part of Northern Ireland.

"We are determined to continue fighting for services in Foyle."

On the possibility of industrial action, he added: "There is a ballot underway and that will, if there is a positive outcome, that will affect coverage of the local elections in Northern Ireland. We are still available for meaningful negotiations but, to date, we have not had any indication that management are going to change their mind."

A spokesperson for the BBC, announcing the cuts last month, said: "BBC Northern Ireland has announced ambitious plans for BBC Radio Foyle and BBC newsgathering in the North West.

"There will be a new half-hour breakfast-time news programme between 8.30-9am each weekday morning. It will have an exclusive focus on stories from and about the North West.

“This will be complemented by hourly weekday news bulletins until 3pm including extended lunchtime bulletins, and a significant enhancement of digital news provision from the BBC’s newsroom in Foyle."

Adam Smyth, interim director of BBC Northern Ireland, added: “These schedule 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. And there’ll be lots of additional benefits as a result of the investment that we’re making to develop digital newsgathering and output from Foyle."

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