Peter Robinson has stepped aside as Northern Irish First Minister with immediate effect for a period of six week. He has designated Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster to step into the breach.
This move eases the pressure on the counsel in the OFMDFM from making a rapid decision in the one week time scale that Robinson was talking about last week. It means that a thorough investigation into whether he himself broke either Assembly or Westminster rules over what he knew and how he acted in relation to his wife's financial dealings can be carried out. At the same time it allows the Assembly and devolved Governance of Northern Ireland to carry on with some serious decisions over policing and justice without the lead man being bogged down in personal stuff.
Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly acknowledged that Robinson should be allowed space to sort out personal relationships at this time. While saying:
"The clock is ticking. This is a partnership government and a coalition government."Martin McGuinness said clearly that we are entering into a crisis ... There is a necessity for all the people in the north to have policing and justice sorted out."
Finance Minister Sammy Wilson of the DUP added:
"Peter Robinson has not only got the backing of the party, I think he has the backing of the community.
"I have been out and about over the weekend. I have found nothing but sympathy and support for him."
So over to Arlene and Martin for the next six crucial weeks then.
1 comment:
It seems such a shame that his wife is such a fine and upstanding person, and has been so unfairly pilloried...
Ah wait. I was thinking of someone else.
I do like the fact that one reaps what one sows, but I am nervous for the Northern Ireland Peace Process and its derailment yet again from something irrelevant to it, yet again.
But why was he so stupid as to get involved with this shabby and sordid little affair, even by implication? Cuckolded by a 19 year old!
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