Mystery over how ‘deleted’ BBC NI post on Pat Finucane was still online a month later
The BBC has declined to comment on why a social media repost of a tweet by John Finucane – which it said had been deleted last month after a complaint – was still on the social media account of one of its reporters this week.
The TUV complained to the corporation in October over its Dublin reporter Aoife Moore re-posting a link by the Sinn Fein MP to an interview with his mother in The Irish Times newspaper. The article was entitled ‘It wasn’t just the murder of one man, this was a strategy’.
The North Belfast MP’s post on X said “My mum has led our family’s 35-year campaign to uncover the full extent of what happened to my father. The recent commitment by the British government to hold an inquiry into my father’s murder is testament to my mum’s strength & determination to uncover the full truth”.
In response to the TUV complaint, the BBC said Ms Moore “wasn’t seeking to make any comment on what John Finucane MP had said in respect of his mother’s interview, but rather to direct attention to the interview itself. “We accept that this intention could have been more straightforwardly achieved, thereby foreclosing on any potential for it to be mis-interpreted. On this basis, the post has now been deleted”.
However, the post was still on the BBC journalist’s account on Monday. The TUV told the BBC that the post had been removed from the account when the BBC promised it had, but had since reappeared – and asked for an explanation.
The BBC’s Head of News in Northern Ireland said it was his “clear understanding that this social media post had been deleted and for reasons explained previously.
“I’ll want to understand why this didn’t happen and regret that you’ve had to get back in touch with me about it”.
This social media re-post has now been deleted. Asked on Monday why the post was still on the X, formerly twitter, feed of its journalist – and whether it is appropriate for any BBC reporter to share a social media post by a politician on a politically contentious issue, a BBC spokesperson said: “We don’t routinely comment on individual editorial complaints, but take all of them seriously.”