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Councillor refuses to use his own council email system over conerns it may be accessed by officials

SDLP councillor Declan O'Loan says his emails were accessed without his consent by his own council
SDLP councillor Declan O'Loan says his emails were accessed without his consent by his own council SDLP councillor Declan O'Loan says his emails were accessed without his consent by his own council

A Co Antrim councillor refused to use an official council email account over concerns it may be accessed by officials without his permission.

Independent councillor James Brown spoke out after fellow Mid and East Antrim Borough councillor Declan O’Loan said the security of his email account was breached by the authority.

A former SDLP MLA, Mr O'Loan said that an "external party" was brought in by the council to access his council email without his consent or knowledge.

Mr O’Loan added that the unauthorised access of his account came after he raised a critical Northern Ireland Audit Office report about the awarding of a professional services contract with the council’s Audit and Scrutiny Committee.

Mr O’Loan, whose wife is former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan, said council chief executive Anne Donaghy contacted him to say she was making a complaint after a search of his emails.

Anne Donaghy
Anne Donaghy Anne Donaghy

Both men were referred to the Local Government Commissioner for Standards.

While the complaint against Mr O’Loan has recently been thrown out, it is believed the report made about Mr Brown is still under consideration.

Mr Brown last night said that he didn’t use the official Mid and East Antrim Borough Council email over concerns it may be accessed without his consent.

He said the complaint against him was made after he raised questions about plans to carry out exploratory oil drilling at Woodburn Forest, near Carrickfergus.

“I, in order to represent my constituents, sought to garner information,” he said.

A spokesman for the council said: "In November 2016, an elected member advised the council that he preferred to use his personal email account rather than the council corporate email to communicate with council staff and his constituents.

"The elected member said this was in order to retain his local identity with constituents, many of whom the member said had engaged with him for many years through his personal email account.

“Council officers worked with the elected member to facilitate his personal preference, subject to the caveat he ensured that all reasonable security measures were in place to protect data and the device,” he said.

“Council is not aware of any further concerns having been raised by the elected member in relation to the corporate email system.”

Regarding the complaint against Mr Brown the spokesman said the “Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards is responsible for handling complaints in relation to councillors in Northern Ireland.”

He added that any enquiries in relation to complaints about councillors “should be referred to the Northern Ireland Local Government Commissioner for Standards”.