Iris Robinson receives ‘treatment’
A spokesman for the First Minister has revealed Iris Robinson is receiving “acute psychiatric treatment” from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
The information was disclosed amid speculation surrounding her health and her whereabouts.
According to party sources, Iris Robinson is expected to leave Westminster, Stormont and Castlereagh Borough Council in the coming days.
Mrs Robinson announced over Christmas that she was quitting politics because of severe depression.
But she and her husband have since been plunged into crisis after it emerged that Mrs Robinson had secured £50,000 from two wealthy developers to help her 19-year-old lover, Kirk McCambley, set up a restaurant business in south Belfast.
‘Authority’
On Sunday, the pressure on the First Minister intensified after his predecessor David Trimble and a Free Presbyterian Minister suggested he should step down following the exposure of his wife’s affair with her teenage lover.
The Rev David McIlveen, a Free Presbyterian minister and a confidant of former DUP leader Ian Paisley, said Mr Robinson should consider standing aside temporarily. But, he later clarified that he was not speaking on behalf of Mr Paisley.
Meanwhile, Lord Trimble said the DUP leader had “lost his authority” within the party and the system.
Lord Trimble claimed: “To sit as leader in a party where the party summarily expels his wife without giving her any hint of due process or a soft landing is someone without authority in his own organisation.”
He said he expected Mr Robinson to step down within the next few days.
But DUP Finance Minister Sammy Wilson insisted Mr Robinson was still commanded support.
“As far as I am concerned he has got support, the stories about Iris don’t impugn him,” he said as he went to church in north Belfast, where Mr Robinson also attends.
On Friday, Peter Robinson called in independent lawyers to investigate his conduct
He is due to hold a crucial meeting with his assembly team at Stormont on Monday.
Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward refused to speculate about Mr Robinson’s future, but insisted the devolution process was “bigger than one man”.
His resignation could trigger an early Assembly election, he warned.
He said: “It is a responsibility on everyone in the Assembly to understand that the consequences of allowing the political process to slide would undoubtedly have an impact on the broader canvas.”
“And that if anybody were to be selfish enough to think this is a moment when that can be allowed to be put in the deep freeze, even some may wish to unpick, they would be extremely irresponsible, foolish and would be playing very, very dangerous games.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said they were focusing on ensuring the political institutions worked.
“The failure of the DUP to fulfil its political commitments and work the political institutions, as it agreed, on the basis of partnership and equality, has led to a considerable lack of public confidence in the political institutions,” he said.
“This is not about the Robinsons’ private family matters. Sinn Fein respect their right to privacy.
“It is about implementing outstanding political agreements that are essential to good government and public confidence.”
