Gregory Campbell opposes Radio Foyle cuts and claims people from Belfast have struggled to pronounce Magherafelt

He claimed to have heard centrally-based staff refer to the south Derry town as ‘Ma-geer-a-felt’.

"I remember a number of occasions when people in Belfast who were unfamiliar with the local terrain would refer to the locality of...‘Ma-geer-a-felt’.

"That is not the pronunciation. Local people wondered, ‘Where on earth is this ‘Ma-geer-a-felt?’ It is actually Magherafelt—that is the local pronunciation. That happened because people were unfamiliar with the local terrain; local reporters would not make that mistake,” said the DUP MP.

Mr. Campbell was speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on the BBC’s role in promoting locally-based radio reporting.

He said people were fearful the centralisation of BBC posts in Belfast will mean less local coverage.

“That is the fear that there is in Northern Ireland about this decision: that there will be a centralisation of all reporters and researchers in the Belfast area and at Broadcasting House in the centre of Belfast.

“What about when events happen 40, 50 or 80 miles beyond the confines of Broadcasting House? Remember, Northern Ireland is quite a small place, and as I have discovered—I may well discover again when I go back home—the Glenshane pass is a very impassable road whenever the weather is bad.

"That may well be a reason, or perhaps an excuse, for not sending a reporter over the Glenshane pass to locate a school, hospital or some other story when another one is more easily accessible five miles down the road,” he said.

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