Distretto Nord

Elezioni suppletive per il seggio di Iris Robinson a Castlereagh

By-election for Iris’s seat

Iris + Peter RobinsonIN a sign of the changing political landscape, the DUP was last night unable to prevent a by-election for Iris Robinson’s seat on the council which her husband, DUP leader Peter Robinson, once dominated.
It is unclear whether the Castlereagh by-election will be held before the general election but if it were to take place before May the poll would be the first electoral test of the impact which the Robinson scandal has had on the DUP.

Having initially decided to remove Mrs Robinson from the DUP and distance itself from her actions, the party yesterday appeared to change strategy on the issue, accusing the media of publishing “smear and invention” about Mrs Robinson’s “one indiscretion”.

The party also revealed that Mrs Robinson is on 24-hour suicide watch in hospital.

The only Robinson present at last night’s meeting was the couple’s son, Gareth, who is now the sole member of the family on the council.

Before and during last night’s meeting he laughed and chatted to fellow DUP councillor Jimmy Spratt, shaking his head as former DUP councillor Charlie Tosh and veteran Alliance councillor Geraldine Rice said they believed the electorate should have their say in a by-election.

The DUP argued that the money would have paid for a third of a park but Councillor Tosh said that the money was a but fraction of that claimed in expenses by DUP politicians.

Councillor Spratt, who is the DUP group leader on the council, proposed community worker Sharon Skillen for Mrs Robinson’s vacant seat.

He also rejected Press reports, which the DUP did not clarify at the time, that Mrs Robinson had been expelled from the party.

Making no reference to the series of serious allegations about Mrs Robinson’s conduct, Councillor Spratt said that Mrs Robinson had resigned from the council “due to health-related issues”.

And he said that the former Strangford MP was still a member of the DUP several days after the BBC Spotlight revelations about her conduct, despite reports that Mrs Robinson had been expelled by the party.

“If anyone claims Mrs Robinson was no longer a member of the DUP at the time when her resignation was announced, that is indeed not true,” he said.

However, several days prior to Mrs Robinson’s resignation from Castlereagh council, a “DUP source” briefed several national newspapers about Mrs Robinson’s expulsion: “There was no question about it – she had to go. There was no sympathy for her position.”

Councillor Spratt also claimed that a by-election would cause “increased stress to council staff”.

Pagina precedente 1 2
Tags

René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

Related Articles

Close