BBC Radio Foyle staff to be balloted for industrial action after Morning Show slashed to 30 minutes

In changes announced on Friday, the current two-hour Morning Show on Radio Foyle is to be replaced by a 30-minute programme.

The union said it had been engaged in negotiations on the proposed changes but after talks on Monday management has decided to press ahead with changes, despite requests from the NUJ to continue talks and allow a trial of a one-hour programme.

The union said 10 staff based at BBC Radio Foyle remain at risk of redundancy.

Reacting to the development, Séamus Dooley, assistant general secretary said: “The announcement of a new schedule, due to come into effect on April 24, is deeply disappointing and leaves the NUJ with no option but to put this matter into dispute.

“As a result of the strong stand taken by the NUJ and the massive public support for BBC Radio Foyle across the Northwest region, we have succeeded in securing hourly radio bulletins and retaining the principle of a breakfast news programme on the station. The NUJ had proposed a 1-hour Breakfast Show for a trial period, but management has dug in on the idea of a 30-minute programme.

“Having entered into this process in good faith we were very disappointed with the hard-line position taken by management. We have now written to management and informed them that we dispute the matter and will have to move forward with a ballot for industrial action. There is still time for management to reconsider its position. The NUJ, public representatives and community groups made a strong and coherent case for the retention on the Breakfast Show.

“The public reaction reflected in petitions, meetings, rallies and parliamentary interventions, is a measure of the importance of BBC Radio Foyle.”

"The retention of regional bulletins and the principle that there should be a Breakfast Show from the Foyle studio are significant achievements.”

BBC Northern Ireland said on Thursday it had “ambitious plans for BBC Radio Foyle and BBC newsgathering in the North West”.

In a statement BBC bosses said Hugo Duncan’s weekday BBC Radio Ulster programme will be produced from the BBC’s studios on Northland Road “in addition to other off-peak programmes for audiences across the region – and beyond”.

“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.”

Among the changes will be the Mark Patterson Show moving to an earlier, lunchtime slot between 12pm -1.30pm on BBC Radio Foyle. Sean Coyle remains in his afternoon slot from 3-4pm.

“Ralph McLean’s specialist music programmes on BBC Radio Ulster on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings will come from the North West and Eve Blair’s extended late night Monday to Thursday programme between 10pm and midnight will also come from Foyle. Caschlár, with Brian Mullen will move to a new, late Monday evening slot on Foyle between 8-10pm.

“ATL Introducing with Gemma Bradley will be broadcast from BBC Foyle between 6pm-7pm on Friday evenings, followed by Stephen McCauley and his brand new three-hour show from 7-10pm. And The Mickey Bradley Record Show will bring a packed evening of great music to a close between 10pm and midnight.

“Your Place and Mine with Anne Marie McAleese will continue to broadcast from Foyle from 8am-9am and it will be joined by The Culture Café in its new Sunday afternoon slot between 3-4pm.”

The BBC said five new roles have been created in BBC Foyle to help deliver local and region-wide programming, including digital news services.

Adam Smyth, Interim Director, BBC Northern Ireland, says: “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.”

“Our teams in the North West have produced many great programme strands for BBC Radio Ulster. That work continues and we expect our studios in Foyle to be busier than ever over the next few years. Some things are changing and we need to stay responsive to changing audience needs and everything else that’s happening in the world around us. What remains constant is our commitment to doing the best we can for the audiences we serve – nurturing talent, encouraging innovation and reflecting community and cultural life in all of its changing diversity.”