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19th December 2017
03:00pm GMT
The BBC has been accused of treating the Republic of Ireland as "some kind of North Korea" after key Irish cities weren't named on its weather map.
East Derry SDLP assembly member John Dallat wrote to the BBC to suggest it should do the same as ITV, which lists Irish cities on its maps.
A spokesman stated that BBC bulletins are designed to “to serve a wider UK audience.”
But Mr Dallat wasn't pleased... “It breaks my heart to see a map of Ireland on the screen showing Belfast only as if the rest of the island didn’t exist or was some kind of North Korea behind an iron curtain,” he said.
“Surely this sends out the wrong message that we are so badly divided we can’t share a common weather map.
Here's how the rest of the day shapes up. Get a more detailed forecast for your area here https://t.co/CpUp9QGjr9 Alina pic.twitter.com/4f3qP23YsI
— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) December 19, 2017
“Do they not realise that 30,000 vehicles cross this border daily and weather conditions do not respect boundaries?
“Are these really weather maps or are they political maps reinforcing partition and division at a time when there has been so many assurances that there will be no hard or soft borders on the island of Ireland.
“My request to include cities other than Belfast on the national weather forecast was to help people start thinking about Ireland in a wider context and give them a bit more information on the geography of the country.
“It was also to facilitate many thousands of people who travel between the two islands frequently, many on a daily basis using airports and ferry ports.”
YIKES.
Header image: BBC/Weather
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