15 November 2026

BBC Northern Ireland must offer the public greater clarity and accountability on cuts to valued services, the SDLP Opposition will argue in Stormont tomorrow.

Devoting an Opposition day debate to the subject of BBC cuts, the SDLP will point to public concern at the scale and target of cuts, which include the removal of in-house Irish language services, the closure of in-house factual programming and the cancellation of beloved local comedy programmes.

These cuts are not only happening without a clear articulation of overall approach by BBC Northern Ireland, but while there is also growing public concern over the resource granted to platforming a narrow section of hardline voices – not least in relation to the recent Drumcree debate.

The SDLP will also draw attention to the concerning news about the gutting of factual programming at UTV.

Opposition Leader Matthew O’Toole MLA said:

“Public service broadcasting matters, and we want a healthy BBC. Public service media matters enormously at a time of misinformation, online extremism and technological disruption. But public service media has to be accountable to the public is serves, and which pays for it.

“Currently BBC Northern Ireland is embarked on a round of swinging cuts to the kinds of services people want from public service media – Irish language services, factual programming, distinctive local comedy – but without any public clarity or accountability on what is going on. When we are legally obliged to pay for these services, that isn’t good enough.

“It is especially important that public trust is maintained because of the huge role the local BBC plays in our public life. But many people turn on BBC radio in the middle of morning to hear a narrow, divisive agenda being platformed on a daily basis – including recently over the Drumcree crisis, where sometimes the only diversity of voices was different shades of hardline unionism. The public deserves accountability.”