A prominent SDLP member has said that his own council viewed his emails without his authority.
Ballymena based Declan O’Loan last night said Mid and East Antrim Borough Council brought in an “external party” to access his council email account without his consent or knowledge.
It is believed the incident took place earlier this year.
He also claimed that council chief executive Anne Donaghy called for him to be suspended after she made a complaint about him to the Local Government Commissioner for Standards.
That complaint, which alleged he breached the code of conduct for councillors, was thrown out by the commissioner last month.
Mr O’Loan says the breaching of security of his email account and the complaint came after he raised the issue of a Northern Ireland Audit Office report which queried the awarding of a professional services contract with the council’s Audit and Scrutiny Committee.
Mr O'Loan, who chaired the committee, said he regarded as “essential that this be thoroughly investigated”.
The former Assembly members said he was later contacted by Ms Donaghy who said that after a search of his emails she would be making a complaint under the code of conduct for councillors.
Mr O’Loan, who regularly used his council account to speak to members of the public and statutory bodies, is concerned that it was accessed without his consent.
Electronic surveillance is strictly controlled under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).
RIPA provides for the "interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications, the carrying out of surveillance, the use of covert human intelligence sources”.
Complaints around surveillance are normally made to the Office of the Surveillance Commissioner which oversees the conduct of covert surveillance and covert human intelligence sources by public authorities.
Mr O’Loan has been an elected representative since 1993 and is a former MLA for north Antrim. His wife Nuala O’Loan is a former Police Ombudsman responsible several key investigations carried out by the office between 1999-2007. She was appointed to the House of Lords in 2009.
Mr O’Loan welcomed the commissioner’s decision but said he was concerned that a complaint was ever made.
He said: "I am of course very pleased with this outcome and was at all times certain that I had fully complied with the Code of Conduct. I had a position of responsibility as Chair of the Audit and
Scrutiny Committee. When the Northern Ireland Audit Office drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that a tender for a Professional Services Contract had been wrongly awarded by the Council, I regarded it as essential that this be thoroughly investigated.
"All of my actions were directed towards this end. I was not involved in the award of the tender."
"This complaint failed the first assessment criterion, that the supporting evidence must indicate conduct by the councillor, which if proven to have occurred, may be considered to constitute a failure to comply with the Code of Conduct. There was therefore no basis for proceeding with an investigation."
"While this is a satisfactory outcome for me, I think it should be a concern for all involved with local government that such a complaint was made at all. Any complaint under the Code of Conduct is serious, and one from the Chief Executive of the Council is particularly serious.
"Being a councillor brings with it serious responsibilities at times, and the Code rightly acknowledges the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
"In this instance, there was use of Council resource in preparing a complaint against me, including a search of my Council emails for which an external party was brought in. For my own part, I will have to consider any further action now that the complaint has been dismissed."
It is understood Ms Donaghy has also made a complaint against a second serving councillor, independent unionist James Brown.
If a complaint is upheld the subject can face a range of sanctions including censure, partial suspension, suspension, or disqualification from being or becoming a councillor for up to a maximum of five years.
A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards said: “One complaint is still under consideration. The second was concluded at the assessment stage”.
A spokesman for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said: “The Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards is responsible for handling complaints in relation to councillors in Northern Ireland.
“Any enquiries in relation to complaints against any councillors in Northern Ireland should be referred to the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards.”
