This is the contributor's view waiting to go into a live interview on BBC News.

Every so often the full membership of the BBC Trust meets in Belfast. This is one of the out of London meetings shared by Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. In addition to meeting BBC staff, they meet with other stakeholders and interested parties to garner opinion and thoughts about the BBC and how it operates and the view from the Nation.

This morning I had breakfast with the Chair Sir Michael Lyons, the local chair Rotha Johnston Trustee for Northern Ireland plus others from UTV, News Letter, Screen NI, Ulster Museums and Invest NI. Yes, the discussion was wide ranging from commissioning to how Northern Ireland is presented on screen (factually and in entertainment and drama), is there sufficient balance between News and Business coverage, what is the role of BBC Online’s news Service?

When people sit in a room and discuss BBC commissioning, the focus always falls on television commissioning. Perhaps because it has the biggest budget, perhaps it’s because it has the most people working in it. My criticism – which was accepted – was that the BBC does not have a strategy for engagement with the digital content industry, not just BBC Northern Ireland, but in the BBC as a whole. Officially 25% of the BBC Future Media budget should go to external suppliers. In Belfast it did from the year that rule was introduced (I was managing the budget and worked with a bunch of suppliers). I expect that it still does. But there is a bigger challenge. The big budgets are found in what is called Network production in television and in radio. The big budgets are in London and we (the DC industry here) need to be engaging with the BBC to access those budgets, prove our creativity and compete with any other supplier in the UK.

But the BBC has a partnership responsibility here.

BBC in London believes that it is approachable and open to ideas. As a Nations producer and editor within the BBC, approaching London Central was difficult enough. From Belfast as an external supplier, it remains almost impossible. But I also think we restrict ourselves in what we are supplying and what we are expected to supply. Yes, it should be web sites and technology platforms. But it must also be content – what I (and they) call Editorial Content.

And it needs to be sustainable.

I know that Peter Johnston Director Northern Ireland and Rotha Johnston (no relation) the Northern Ireland Trustee are both keen on developing a business and supply modal here. I know Alistair Hamilton of Invest NI shares that intention.

But we need some leadership, a road map and a sustainable conversation. Digital Circle will engage, and engage constructively.

Back to radio for me; and it was the best fun I have had in ages. To Bangor for the Sea Bangor Maritime Festival to record some school children trying out sailing. Download the MP3 here or stream it from BBC iPlayer until 20 June.

Some of us called him “Rockin’ Robbo”; he got that name when he was working in Downtown.  “The wee man with the glasses. “ had other names.  But he was more a jazzer than a rocker. A husband and father first, a journo and a drummer after that and a great figure in Northern Ireland broadcast news.  And he was buried today. Paul Robinson started in Armagh as a trainee reporter before going to the Newsletter and the Belfast Telegraph.  We worked together in Downtown – he a news man, me a DJ.  Even though it was a small place, music and news were kept separate, but Robbo brought the two together doing music news on a programme Ivan Martin and I worked on. But he was a serious and brave journalist. Davy Lynass – probably his friend for longer than anyone – spoke at the funeral and told a tale of Robbo being out on a story and his car being hi-jacked by the IRA.  Paul was left standing in a field with one of the IRA men and told to stand still and wait. After a few minutes fidgeting and hopping around from one foot to another he broke the science “Hey, mate – any chance I can have a fag?”The coffin arrived at the church to the sound of an Irish lament played on Uillean pipes.  I can’t say how many people were in the church.  It probably held upwards of 400.  I arrived early, but not early enough and stood with at least 50 others outside in the cold Bangor sea wind. This generation of senior broadcasters and journalists who have reported so much horror and seen so much change are a tight bunch.  Whether BBC, UTV or the news papers, we are a big tight family.  We all know each other – most of us have worked with each other at some time or another.  I was almost always on the non-news side – for a while I did both.  We are all friends. People cried.  People who are house hold names, who verbally pummel politicians and leave them looking foolish and inadequate every day, walked away shaking with emotion.  And there were politicians there too, shaken and sad. The service ended with to Don Henley’s IGY radiating from the speakers out side the church. Hundreds of people spilled out of the church, shaking hands, supporting each other, many laughing.  Which was right – apart from drumming on every surface, smoking a fag every chance he could Robbo laughed – he laughed a lot and we lauhed today with him.

Some of us called him “Rockin’ Robbo”; he got that name when he was working in Downtown.  “The wee man with the glasses. “ had other names.  But he was more a jazzer than a rocker. A husband and father first, a journo and a drummer after that and a great figure in Northern Ireland broadcast news.  And he was buried today. Paul Robinson started in Armagh as a trainee reporter before going to the Newsletter and the Belfast Telegraph.  We worked together in Downtown – he a news man, me a DJ.  Even though it was a small place, music and news were kept separate, but Robbo brought the two together doing music news on a programme Ivan Martin and I worked on. But he was a serious and brave journalist. Davy Lynass – probably his friend for longer than anyone – spoke at the funeral and told a tale of Robbo being out on a story and his car being hi-jacked by the IRA.  Paul was left standing in a field with one of the IRA men and told to stand still and wait. After a few minutes fidgeting and hopping around from one foot to another he broke the science “Hey, mate – any chance I can have a fag?” The coffin arrived at the church to the sound of an Irish lament played on Uillean pipes.  I can’t say how many people were in the church.  It probably held upwards of 400.  I arrived early, but not early enough and stood with at least 50 others outside in the cold Bangor sea wind. This generation of senior broadcasters and journalists who have reported so much horror and seen so much change are a tight bunch.  Whether BBC, UTV or the news papers, we are a big tight family.  We all know each other – most of us have worked with each other at some time or another.  I was almost always on the non-news side – for a while I did both.  We are all friends. People cried.  People who are house hold names, who verbally pummel politicians and leave them looking foolish and inadequate every day, walked away shaking with emotion.  And there were politicians there too, shaken and sad. The service ended with to Don Henley’s IGY radiating from the speakers out side the church. Hundreds of people spilled out of the church, shaking hands, supporting each other, many laughing.  Which was right – apart from drumming on every surface, smoking a fag every chance he could Robbo laughed – he laughed a lot and we lauhed today with him. LATE UPDATE: Just remembered this - Stevie Wonder played Wembly 1980 ish and NME reviewed the gig with the headline “Stevie Wonder Plays a Blinder” - Paul was so angry he reported it to the NUJ. Just a good guy.