Peter Robinson (politician)

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Peter Robinson

Peter David Robinson (born December 29, 1948 in Belfast ) is a Northern Irish politician and has been a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly since 1982 . He was chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from May 31, 2008 to December 27, 2015 . At the same time he was from June 5, 2008 (with a short interruption from January 11 to February 3, 2010 and from September 10, 2015 to October 20, 2015) to January 11, 2016 First Minister in the Northern Irish Self-Government.

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Robinson joined the DUP when it was founded in 1971. Between 1975 and 1979 he was general secretary of the party. He was considered to be very adamant on all political issues and was arrested and fined in the 1980s for illegally crossing the border with the Republic of Ireland in a protest to raise awareness of the lack of security at the border. He first became a Member of the House of Commons for the constituency of East Belfast in 1979 . In all subsequent elections to the British House of Commons up to 2010 he was able to defend this seat. In the 2010 general election , Robinson lost his constituency to Alliance Party of Northern Ireland candidate Naomi Long . From 1980 he acted as the deputy of party leader Ian Paisley and was considered a close confidante. In this sense he was an opponent of the Good Friday Agreement . In the newly constituted government in Northern Ireland, he had been a cabinet member since 2007 and served as Minister of Finance and Public Service. When Ian Paisley announced his resignation from the positions of party chairman and first minister in 2008, Peter Robinson succeeded him in both offices. He was nominated by his party as first minister and accepted by the Northern Ireland Assembly on June 5, 2008 . The assumption of office was followed by a falling out with the Ian Paisley family, who had treated Robinson as a political foster son. The Ian Paisley family accused Robinson of having pushed him out of office and "publicly executed" him with words.

In early 2010, Robinson came under fire in connection with an affair with his wife Iris Robinson , who is also a member of the House of Commons. A relationship developed between Iris Robinson and a nineteen-year-old whom she had previously supported, according to a BBC report. She is said to have given him money that came from building contractors and that she did not properly declare. According to the BBC report, Peter Robinson was aware of these events and funds and tried to work towards having the funds repaid. However, he failed to make the (illegal) processes public, as was his duty as First Minister. Peter Robinson temporarily resigned from office on January 11, 2010 because of the affair. Until February 3, 2010 he was represented by Arlene Foster . Afterwards after he the official business again.

On September 10, 2015, Robinson resigned from the position of First Minister. The trigger was disputes that broke out after the murder of Kevin McGuigan in Belfast the previous month. The unionist parties UUP and DUP suspected that the (Provisional) IRA was responsible for the murder, an organization that has ceased to exist since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The continued existence of the IRA was denied by Sinn Féin . The DUP called for the Northern Ireland Assembly to be suspended , and when it did not do so, Robinson resigned from the position of First Minister. His interim successor in this office was his party colleague Arlene Foster . On October 20, 2015, he resumed his post as First Minister.

In November 2015, Robinson announced that he would resign from his position as party chairman of the DUP and that he would no longer be available as First Minister. He does not want to run again in the elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2016. He explained his decision with his fundamental belief that politicians should step down between the ages of 60 and 65 and that he suffered a heart attack in May 2015 after which doctors advised him to change his lifestyle.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Henry McDonald: Peter Robinson: from estate agent cherry-picked by Ian Paisley to first minister In: The Guardian, November 19, 2015, accessed November 19, 2015
  2. ↑ BBC report of January 8, 2010 BBC iplayer, accessed January 10, 2010
  3. ↑ Sex, corruption and a disgraced head of government In: Die Welt online on January 11, 2010, accessed on January 11, 2010
  4. ^ Peter Robinson back as Northern Ireland first minister. BBC News, February 4, 2010, accessed September 11, 2015 .
  5. ^ NI first minister Peter Robinson steps aside in Stormont crisis. BBC News, September 10, 2015, accessed September 10, 2015 .
  6. ↑ DUP ministers resume Northern Ireland Executive posts , in: BBC, October 20, 2015, accessed November 26, 2015
  7. ↑ Liam Clarke: DUP's Peter Robinson: I'm standing down within weeks In: Belfast Telegraph, November 19, 2015, accessed November 19, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Robinson, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robinson, Peter David (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Northern Irish politician (DUP), member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast