My wife recently informed me that the people on the television can’t hear what I’m shouting. I don’t know when I started shouting at the news, but I know I’ve gotten worse recently, although in my defence, recent news reports would cause any person of any age to explode in rage.
The sight of Boris Johnson doing his ‘naughty schoolboy act’ whilst excusing his incompetent mishandling of the Covid pandemic was exasperating. I was heartened when Brenda Campbell KC, representing Northern Ireland Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, managed to skewer Johnson by forcing him to admit he hadn’t bothered watching evidence from Northern Ireland’s bereaved family members to the inquiry.
Another guaranteed outburst from me comes whenever Israeli government spokesperson/apologist, Mark Regev, pops up on my television screen. When questioned recently about a video showing Palestinian men bound and stripped by the IDF, Regev explained: “Remember this is the Middle East and it’s warmer here, especially during the day, so being asked to take off your shirt may not be pleasant but it’s not the end of the world.” Such a dismissively arrogant statement had me shouting so loudly my wife rushed in fearful I’d had ‘a turn’.
“Such was my rage on this occasion I’d to wipe my saliva from the television screen
Despite having promised to curb my vocal explosions, my most recent outburst occurred on Monday as I watched the DUP delegation stride past striking workers on their way into finance talks with secretary of state, Chris Heaton-Harris.
Having been offered £2.5bn for a return to Stormont, Jeffrey Donaldson has said he would “study the government’s offer”, adding there was, “still some way to go”. Translated, this means we’re looking into the new year before our MLAs stop truanting and start earning their salaries.
Read more: Jake O’Kane: I might be a buck eejit but at least I’m not a rage farmer like Conor McGregor
Such was my rage on this occasion I’d to wipe my saliva from the television screen. And that’s the end of my outbursts for this year, but only because I’ve agreed to stop watching the news for a while. Either that or I start watching the news in our garden shed.
AFTER the disastrous leak of the personal details of 9,500 members of the PSNI, an independent review has been carried out by the temporary commissioner of the City of London Police, Pete O’Doherty.
Mr O’Doherty reported on Monday that the leak was “a wake-up call for every force across the UK to take the security of data as seriously as possible”, intimating that many police forces continue to handle sensitive data in a cavalier fashion, which will come as a shock to the public.
Read more: Chief constable Jon Boutcher needs to put data breach recommendations into action
In Mr O’Doherty’s opinion, the catastrophic release of sensitive data by the PSNI wasn’t the result of “a single isolated decision or act by one person, team or department”. Having therefore excluded all human error, we must assume some supernatural force was responsible for the mistake. This being the case, the PSNI will no doubt be reaching out to Ghostbusters to deal with whatever malevolent spirit is responsible.
As always, when a public body or politician messes up, the word ‘blame’ is excised and replaced with ‘excuses’, ‘explanations’, and ‘obfuscation’. When was the last time you saw someone with power stand up and take responsibility for an error? You’re scratching your head right now, aren’t you?
“Having therefore excluded all human error, we must assume some supernatural force was responsible for the mistake. This being the case, the PSNI will no doubt be reaching out to Ghostbusters to deal with whatever malevolent spirit is responsible
Not that I wanted some junior officer or administrative worker thrown to the wolves, but unless the mistake is identified and acknowledged, how can we be sure it won’t happen again? After all, this wasn’t a clerical error leading to the wrong brand of pencils being ordered; this was the addresses and jobs of every NI police officer posted online.
These officers are now being offered a derisory one-off payment of £500 to improve their home security, which would just about cover the purchase of a Ring doorbell. How effective that will be in deterring those determined to cause serious harm is questionable, as my Ring doorbell doesn’t even deter cold callers.
One of the 37 recommendations within the O’Doherty report has already been enacted by the PSNI with the role of ‘senior information risk owner’ elevated to the post of deputy chief constable. This will ensure that information around security and data protection matters will be immediately visible to the deputy chief constable, chief operating officer and chief constable.
What many will find unfathomable is that, considering the sensitivity of the information being handled by the PSNI, this hadn’t been enacted years ago. As usual, it’s highly unlikely anyone in authority will be held accountable for this oversight, for who you gonna call? Ghostbusters...
