THE Oxford English Dictionary defines irony as the expression of meaning through the use of language which normally signifies the opposite.
Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein said: “The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.”
I define it as the man appointed to protect the privacy of personal data is fired for allegedly leaking information.
Just this month the head of the Information Commissioner’s Northern Ireland office Aubrey McCrory was sacked for apparently leaking details of an internal investigation to the media.
And the plot thickens. Mr McCrory was suspended last year while an inquiry into his conduct took place. It has been suggested that it was the details of this investigation he leaked to the media.
In a statement the ICO said: “During the course of the investigation it came to our attention that confidential information relating to the investigation had appeared in the Press. The ICO investigated this matter and concluded that Aubrey McCrory had breached confidentiality.
“We consider this to be gross misconduct and therefore Aubrey McCrory has been dismissed from his position as Assistant Commissioner Northern Ireland with immediate effect.”
And isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/data-supremo-sacked-after-leaks-to-press-14718063.html
“A commission spokesman said Mr McCrory had breached confidentiality, but said there would be no police probe into this claim because the information leaked only concerned Mr McCrory.”
Er just how could he break the confidentiality of his own data?
Think the ICO may just have scored an own goal there…
This one is a real mystery. I think the issue is that Mr McCrory allegedly leaked information about an ongoing investigation – it just so happened to be probing his “inappropriate conduct”. I think in this case it was Mr McCrory who scored an own goal.
The leak was in the Irish News, it gave details of some of the allegations, which would be information concerning the person who made the allegation. Interestingly though the journo stated that his source was not Mr McCrory, so it’s not clear what actually happened. The Irish News said Mr McCrory was going to the employment tribunal so maybe that will shed some light on it all.