BBC has 'nothing further to add' after unionists raise concerns over delay in dealing with Orange lodge complaint
The BBC has declined to comment on why it took almost a year to deal with a complaint over inaccurate claims that a GAA children’s event in Comber had been cancelled after, or because of, a statement by a local Orange lodge.
The TUV and DUP have raised concerns about the length of time it took the broadcaster to address issues raised by Goldsprings Orange Lodge about the reports in July 2025. A ruling was made earlier this month.
The corporation said its initial reporting of the row “fell below the standards of accuracy required” – and a clarification issued over it was “true as far as it goes”.
The internal investigation found it “falls short of acknowledging that the original article was at fault and explaining why”.
Asked why the investigation had taken so long, the BBC said it has “nothing further to add to the detailed finding from the Executive Complaints Unit” (ECU). It said it had updated a statement on its ‘Corrections and Clarifications’ website.
The website, which is not widely read, said: “We accept that there was no causal link between Goldsprings’ published statement about the GAA in Comber and the cricket club’s earlier announcement. It did, however, provide wider local context for the decision that had been made - explaining the connection that we made between them. None of this was meant to misrepresent the lodge’s role, or the chronology and effect of its public intervention in this story – which has now been further clarified”.
It has now amened that statement following the ECU ruling, adding that “some of the BBC’s reporting about this story had implied a causal link between the Goldsprings’ statement about the GAA and the cricket club’s earlier decision to cancel its event. It [the ECU] said that this failure to achieve due accuracy should have been reflected in the statement above and in the clarification note that accompanied the (near contemporaneous) changes that had been made to an online news report”.
A note on the original story on BBC News NI website reads: “This article was amended for accuracy and clarity following a statement from North Down Cricket Club released on 17 July.”