THE Alliance Party has hit back at claims from former Labour minister Kate Hoey that it is attempting to "censor" unionist and loyalist voices in the media.
Alliance leader Naomi Long criticised the frequency with which people opposed to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has effectively created a post-Brexit border in the Irish Sea, have made appearances on the broadcaster.
"It's hard to argue they're being ignored when some of their representatives seem to have a constant open mike on the BBC for example on an almost daily basis," she told the BBC earlier this week.
Her comments came after the SDLP's Matthew O'Toole questioned the "level of prominence consistently given to a small section of hardline voices" on The Nolan Show on Radio Ulster.
Former sports minister Baroness Hoey, a cross-party peer, later claimed there is a "concerted political effort in NI- by nationalist parties and Alliance- to bully media like @StephenNolan into censoring unionist and particularly loyalist voices".
"Everyone who believes in free speech should resist these efforts @BBCNewsNI," she tweeted.
However, an Alliance spokesman rejected the peer's claims.
"Alliance has never sought to interfere with press freedom or suppress voices, loyalist or otherwise," he said.
"Indeed, it was some loyalists who tried to suppress Alliance, with death threats, and attacks on our offices and homes of elected representatives.
"What is disgraceful is Kate Hoey and others parroting false allegations without doing any due diligence whatsoever."
Baroness Hoey was strongly criticised earlier this year after she claimed many of the north's professions are "dominated by those of a nationalist persuasion".
She said nationalist "activists" in the fields of law, journalism and public service were using their roles to "exert influence on those in power".
