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Peter Robinson (politician)
Encyclopedia
Peter David Robinson is the current First Minister of Northern Ireland
and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP). He has been actively involved in Northern Irish politics since 1970 when he became a founding member of Ian Paisley
's Democratic Unionist Party
.
Robinson served as Paisley’s Parliamentary Assistant at Westminster
prior to assuming the role of the General Secretary of the DUP in 1975, a position of which he held until 1979 and which afforded him the opportunity to exert unprecedented influence within the fledgling unionist party.
In 1977, Robinson was elected as a councillor to the Castlereagh Borough Council in Dundonald
, Belfast and in 1979 he became the youngest serving Member of Parliament (MP) when he was narrowly elected as MP for Belfast East
. He held this seat until being defeated in May 2010, making him the longest-serving MP for any Belfast constituency since the 1800 Act of Union.
In 1980, Robinson was elected as the Deputy Leader of the DUP. Following the re-establishment of devolved government
in Northern Ireland
as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, Robinson was elected in 1998 as Member of the Legislative Assembly
(MLA) for the constituency of Belfast East
. Robinson subsequently served as Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Finance and Personnel. Robinson was elected unopposed as the new leader of the DUP on 15 April 2008 and was elected as First Minister of Northern Ireland on 5 June 2008.
In January 2010, following a scandal
involving his wife Iris Robinson
, Robinson temporarily stood down from his position as First Minister and selected Arlene Foster
to fulfill the role, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 2006. Following an investigation, which cleared Robinson of allegations made by the BBC
in relation to the Iris Robinson scandal, he resumed his duties as First Minister and subsequently completed the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Stormont Executive on 5 February 2010.
Peter Robinson was educated at Annadale Grammar School
, now Wellington College Belfast
in South Belfast, and studied English and Mathematics at Castlereagh College, now known as Belfast Metropolitan College.
Although Robinson’s family had no background in Unionist politics or in the Protestant Loyal Order Institutions, Peter Robinson developed an early interest in Northern Irish politics as a teenager, resulting in the publication of various political pamphlets, including ‘The North Answers Back’, which drew the young aspiring politician to the attention of Dr. Ian Paisley. In spite of Robinson’s growing enthusiasm for Unionist politics, he initially gained employment as an estate agent for Alex Murdoch & Deane in Belfast but decided to accept a decrease in salary to become the DUP’s first General Secretary in 1975.
on 1 May 1975 in Belfast, East. Although he started in fifth place, he failed to get elected being overtaken by his running mate
Eileen Paisley.
Robinson was elected as a councillor
for Castlereagh Borough Council for the Castlereagh C area in the local government elections
on 18 May 1977. He resigned from the council on 2 July 2007.
during the 1979 general election
, a seat which previously had a big Ulster Unionist Party
(UUP) majority. He won the seat with a 19.9% swing to the DUP and a majority of 64, with Alliance Party
leader Oliver Napier
928 votes behind, unseating the MP former Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
leader and UUP candidate William Craig on 3 May 1979.
He was re-elected to the House of Commons in 1983
, 1986 (along with UUP and DUP MPs he resigned his seat in protest at the Anglo Irish Agreement on 17 December 1985 and was re-elected in the by-election
the next year), 1987
, 1992
, 2001
and 2005
. In the 2010 UK general election he lost Belfast East
to Naomi Long of the Alliance
party.
Robinson did not sit on any committees in the United Kingdom Parliament, although he served on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
from 1997 to 13 July 2005.
In the general election
on 7 June 2001, Robinson’s wife, Iris
, joined him in Parliament
as MP for Strangford
. The Robinsons were the first husband and wife ever to represent Northern Ireland
in Parliament.
Robinson was the longest-serving Member of Parliament for any Belfast constituency since the Act of Union
in 1800.
on 20 October 1982 where he served as Chairman of the Environment Committee until it was dissolved in 1986.
Robinson resigned briefly as DUP Deputy Leader in 1987 when the Task Force Report, written jointly with Ulster Unionists, Harold McCusker
MP and Frank Millar and calling for a strategic unionist rethink in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Agreement was rejected by their respective leaders, Ian Paisley and James Molyneaux.
He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
on 30 May 1996 and served in it until it completed its work in 1998. On 25 June 1998, he was elected MLA for Belfast East in the Northern Ireland Assembly election
. He was subsequently re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
in 2003
and again in 2007
.
Robinson was Minister for Regional Development, which has overall responsibility for the Department for Regional Development
(DRD), between 29 November 1999 to 27 July 2000 and 24 October 2001 to 11 October 2002. He was responsible for the introduction of free fares on public transport
for the elderly and helped formulate the 25 year Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland and devised the 10 year Regional Transport Strategy.
Robinson was Minister of Finance and Personnel from 8 May 2007 to June 2008.
On 4 March 2008, Ian Paisley
announced that he would step down as Leader of the DUP and First Minister
in May 2008. On 14 April 2008, Robinson was nominated unanimously by the DUP MLA
s as leader designate with Nigel Dodds
as deputy leader designate of the DUP and on 17 April 2008 they were both ratified by the DUP's 120-member executive committee. He formally became leader on 31 May 2008.
As Leader of the DUP, Robinson was ratified by the Northern Ireland Assembly as First Minister with Sinn Féin
's Martin McGuinness
as deputy First Minister
(diarchy
) on 5 June 2008.
On 11 January 2010 Robinson announced that he was stepping down from the position of First Minister for a period of six weeks to clear his name over his financial dealings in the midst of the Iris Robinson scandal
. Arlene Foster
was designated to discharge the duties of First Minister until his return.
Mr Robinson is facing a claim that he knew his wife obtained £50,000 from two developers for her teenage lover but did not tell the proper authorities. His wife received "acute psychiatric treatment" following a BBC Spotlight documentary about the scandal. On 11 January 2010 Robinson confirmed that he had asked both the House of Commons and the Northern Ireland Assembly
to carry out an inquiry into his conduct.
, Robinson led a group of 500 loyalists into the village of Clontibret
in County Monaghan
in the Republic of Ireland
. The loyalists attacked the unmanned Garda
station in the village and daubbed loyalist slogans on the walls. They then held a quasi-military parade along the main street and attacked two Gardaí. More Gardaí arrived shortly after and fired shots in the air, scattering the loyalist crowd. Robinson was arrested and held at Monaghan
Garda station. He pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly
and was fined IR£
17500 in a Drogheda
court to escape a prison sentence. As a result, Robinson briefly resigned from the DUP deputy leadership. There was also violence both before and after a court appearance in Dundalk
, including Ian Paisley being attacked with stones and petrol bombs after Jim Wells and other Robinson supporters waved flags and sang Loyalist songs. At his trial the judge described him as "a senior extremist politician".
demonstration
which launched Ulster Resistance
, an organisation which subsequently collaborated with the Ulster Defence Association
and Ulster Volunteer Force to import arms from South Africa, resulting in Robinson leaving the organisation. Robinson was photographed wearing the loyalist paramilitary
military uniform
at an Ulster Resistance demonstration.
At a rally in Enniskillen
, Peter Robinson announced; "'Thousands have already joined the movement and the task of shaping them into an effective force is continuing. The Resistance has indicated that drilling and training has already started. The officers of the nine divisions have taken up their duties'.
interview for Hearts and Minds
for BBC Northern Ireland
, Peter Robinson publicly stated that homosexuality was against Christian theology
.
Robinson said: “It wasn’t Iris Robinson who determined that homosexuality was an abomination, it was The Almighty
. This is the Scriptures
. It is a strange world indeed where somebody on the one hand talks about equality, but won’t allow Christians to have the equality, the right to speak, the right to express their views.”
The comments angered LGBT
Christian groups throughout the UK .
area of east Belfast.
On 30 March 2010, the BBC reported that Robinson had purchased a piece of land from a developer for £5, enabling him to sell part of his back garden for nearly £460,000. Robinson later claimed that the BBC were leading a smear campaign
against him.
programme Spotlight reported on how his wife, Iris, had obtained £50,000 for Kirk McCambley, 19 at the time, while she was sexually involved with him. On the day before the Spotlight programme, Peter Robinson had made an emotional statement to the Press Association
, BBC, UTV
and RTÉ
in regard to the relationship and mentioned that there were no financial wrongdoings. However, the programme showed that when Robinson found out about the financial aspects of his wife's relationship he insisted that the money she had lobbied for and subsequently lent and gifted from two property developers to her lover be returned in full. However, he did not tell the proper authorities what he knew about the transactions between the four, despite being obliged by the Northern Ireland Executive
ministerial code of conduct to act in the public interest at all times.
Later that day Robinson's solicitors said he was thoroughly satisfied that he has at all times acted properly and fulfilled all requirements, and would robustly challenge any allegation to the contrary.
On 11 January 2010 Robinson announced that he was stepping down from the position of First Minister for a period of six weeks. Arlene Foster
was nominated as his replacement for this period. Robinson lost his seat in Westminster at the 2010 General Election.
on 26 July 1970; they have three children, Jonathan, Gareth and Rebekah. His wife has joined him as a councillor
, a MLA and a MP. Their son, Gareth Robinson is also member of Castlereagh (borough). They were the first husband and wife ever to represent Northern Ireland
constituencies in Parliament
. His daughter, Rebekah, served as his private secretary for his Advice Centre in the East Belfast constituency. Hazel Kerr serves as the office's main secretary.
-Martin McGuinness
so-called "Chuckle Brothers
" image when he works with Martin McGuinness. However it does not appear that he will escape a shared nickname as "Brothers Grimm
" is catching on.
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First Minister and deputy First Minister
The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...
and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
(DUP). He has been actively involved in Northern Irish politics since 1970 when he became a founding member of Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
's Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
.
Robinson served as Paisley’s Parliamentary Assistant at Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
prior to assuming the role of the General Secretary of the DUP in 1975, a position of which he held until 1979 and which afforded him the opportunity to exert unprecedented influence within the fledgling unionist party.
In 1977, Robinson was elected as a councillor to the Castlereagh Borough Council in Dundonald
Dundonald
Dundonald is a large settlement in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often deemed to be a suburb of the city. It includes the large housing estate of Ballybeen, and many new housing estates have emerged in the past ten years....
, Belfast and in 1979 he became the youngest serving Member of Parliament (MP) when he was narrowly elected as MP for Belfast East
Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...
. He held this seat until being defeated in May 2010, making him the longest-serving MP for any Belfast constituency since the 1800 Act of Union.
In 1980, Robinson was elected as the Deputy Leader of the DUP. Following the re-establishment of devolved government
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, Robinson was elected in 1998 as Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
(MLA) for the constituency of Belfast East
Belfast East (Assembly constituency)
Belfast East is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
. Robinson subsequently served as Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Finance and Personnel. Robinson was elected unopposed as the new leader of the DUP on 15 April 2008 and was elected as First Minister of Northern Ireland on 5 June 2008.
In January 2010, following a scandal
Iris Robinson scandal
The Iris Robinson scandal, also known as Irisgate, was a political scandal in Northern Ireland which came to light in early January 2010. In a televised interview on 6 January Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's First Minister, revealed that his wife Iris Robinson, had an affair in 2008 and...
involving his wife Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson is a former Northern Ireland Unionist politician. She is married to Peter Robinson, who is currently the First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly....
, Robinson temporarily stood down from his position as First Minister and selected Arlene Foster
Arlene Foster
Arlene Isabel Foster is a politician in Northern Ireland. She is one of two Democratic Unionist Party MLAs representing the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She became Minister of the Environment on 8 May 2009 and was subsequently reshuffled into the...
to fulfill the role, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 2006. Following an investigation, which cleared Robinson of allegations made by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in relation to the Iris Robinson scandal, he resumed his duties as First Minister and subsequently completed the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Stormont Executive on 5 February 2010.
Background
Peter David Robinson was born on 29 December 1948 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Sheila and David McCrea Robinson.Peter Robinson was educated at Annadale Grammar School
Annadale Grammar School
Annadale Grammar School for Boys was an all-boys school located on the Annadale Embankment skirting the River Lagan in south Belfast, Northern Ireland...
, now Wellington College Belfast
Wellington College Belfast
Wellington College Belfast is a co-educational grammar school located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The current principal is Mr Matthew Pitts. The school was formed when, in 1990, the all-boys' Annadale Grammar School and the all-girls' Carolan Grammar School merged to become a single...
in South Belfast, and studied English and Mathematics at Castlereagh College, now known as Belfast Metropolitan College.
Although Robinson’s family had no background in Unionist politics or in the Protestant Loyal Order Institutions, Peter Robinson developed an early interest in Northern Irish politics as a teenager, resulting in the publication of various political pamphlets, including ‘The North Answers Back’, which drew the young aspiring politician to the attention of Dr. Ian Paisley. In spite of Robinson’s growing enthusiasm for Unionist politics, he initially gained employment as an estate agent for Alex Murdoch & Deane in Belfast but decided to accept a decrease in salary to become the DUP’s first General Secretary in 1975.
Member of the DUP
Robinson was General Secretary of the DUP between 1975 and 1979. He first stood in the election to the Northern Ireland Constitutional ConventionNorthern Ireland Constitutional Convention
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was an elected body set up in 1975 by the UK Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of Northern Ireland....
on 1 May 1975 in Belfast, East. Although he started in fifth place, he failed to get elected being overtaken by his running mate
Running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position but can also properly be used when referring to both candidates, such as "Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen were...
Eileen Paisley.
Robinson was elected as a councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
for Castlereagh Borough Council for the Castlereagh C area in the local government elections
United Kingdom local elections, 1977
Local elections were held in the United Kingdom in 1977. The results were a major mid-term setback for the Labour government, and the Conservatives comprehensively regained control of the Greater London Council with 64 seats against Labour's 28....
on 18 May 1977. He resigned from the council on 2 July 2007.
Member of Parliament and Executive Minister
Robinson was selected as DUP candidate for Belfast EastBelfast East (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...
during the 1979 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
, a seat which previously had a big Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
(UUP) majority. He won the seat with a 19.9% swing to the DUP and a majority of 64, with Alliance Party
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland is a liberal and nonsectarian political party in Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's fifth-largest party overall, with eight seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and one in the House of Commons....
leader Oliver Napier
Oliver Napier
Sir Oliver Napier was the first leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. In 1974 he served as the first and only Legal Minister and head of the Office of Legal Reform in the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive set up by the Sunningdale Agreement.-Early life:Napier was educated at St...
928 votes behind, unseating the MP former Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party , informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1973 and 1978...
leader and UUP candidate William Craig on 3 May 1979.
He was re-elected to the House of Commons in 1983
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
, 1986 (along with UUP and DUP MPs he resigned his seat in protest at the Anglo Irish Agreement on 17 December 1985 and was re-elected in the by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
the next year), 1987
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, 1992
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, 2001
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
and 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
. In the 2010 UK general election he lost Belfast East
Belfast East (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...
to Naomi Long of the Alliance
Alliance
An alliance is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests.See also military alliance and business alliance.-International relations:...
party.
Robinson did not sit on any committees in the United Kingdom Parliament, although he served on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
The Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
from 1997 to 13 July 2005.
In the general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
on 7 June 2001, Robinson’s wife, Iris
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson is a former Northern Ireland Unionist politician. She is married to Peter Robinson, who is currently the First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly....
, joined him in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
as MP for Strangford
Strangford (UK Parliament constituency)
Strangford is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in boundary changes in 1983, as part of an expansion of Northern Ireland's constituencies from 12 to 17, and was predominantly made up from parts of North Down...
. The Robinsons were the first husband and wife ever to represent Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in Parliament.
Robinson was the longest-serving Member of Parliament for any Belfast constituency since the Act of Union
Act of Union 1800
The Acts of Union 1800 describe two complementary Acts, namely:* the Union with Ireland Act 1800 , an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and...
in 1800.
Leadership of the Democratic Unionist Party
Robinson's electoral success was marked when he was elected Deputy Leader of the DUP in 1980. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast EastBelfast East (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast East is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Naomi Long of the Alliance Party, elected in 2010...
on 20 October 1982 where he served as Chairman of the Environment Committee until it was dissolved in 1986.
Robinson resigned briefly as DUP Deputy Leader in 1987 when the Task Force Report, written jointly with Ulster Unionists, Harold McCusker
Harold McCusker
James Harold McCusker was a Northern Ireland Ulster Unionist Party politician who served as his party's deputy leader....
MP and Frank Millar and calling for a strategic unionist rethink in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Agreement was rejected by their respective leaders, Ian Paisley and James Molyneaux.
He was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
Northern Ireland Forum
The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....
on 30 May 1996 and served in it until it completed its work in 1998. On 25 June 1998, he was elected MLA for Belfast East in the Northern Ireland Assembly election
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...
. He was subsequently re-elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
in 2003
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2003
The second elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which at the time of the elections had been suspended for just over a year, were held on Wednesday 26 November 2003. Six members were elected by Single Transferable Vote from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary...
and again in 2007
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 2007
The third elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held on 7 March 2007 when 108 new members were elected. The election saw endorsement of the St Andrews Agreement and the two largest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin, along with the Alliance Party, increase their...
.
Robinson was Minister for Regional Development, which has overall responsibility for the Department for Regional Development
Department for Regional Development
The Department for Regional Development is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
(DRD), between 29 November 1999 to 27 July 2000 and 24 October 2001 to 11 October 2002. He was responsible for the introduction of free fares on public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
for the elderly and helped formulate the 25 year Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland and devised the 10 year Regional Transport Strategy.
Robinson was Minister of Finance and Personnel from 8 May 2007 to June 2008.
On 4 March 2008, Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
announced that he would step down as Leader of the DUP and First Minister
First Minister and deputy First Minister
The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...
in May 2008. On 14 April 2008, Robinson was nominated unanimously by the DUP MLA
Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)
Member of the Legislative Assembly is a representative elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland.- About :...
s as leader designate with Nigel Dodds
Nigel Dodds
Nigel Alexander Dodds, OBE, MP, BL is a barrister and Northern Irish unionist politician. He is Member of Parliament for Belfast North, and deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice, and from 1993 has been General Secretary of the DUP...
as deputy leader designate of the DUP and on 17 April 2008 they were both ratified by the DUP's 120-member executive committee. He formally became leader on 31 May 2008.
First minister
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
's Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
as deputy First Minister
First Minister and deputy First Minister
The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...
(diarchy
Diarchy
Diarchy , from the Greek δι- "twice" and αρχια, "rule", is a form of government in which two individuals, the diarchs, are the heads of state. In most diarchies, the diarchs hold their position for life and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their children or family when they...
) on 5 June 2008.
On 11 January 2010 Robinson announced that he was stepping down from the position of First Minister for a period of six weeks to clear his name over his financial dealings in the midst of the Iris Robinson scandal
Iris Robinson scandal
The Iris Robinson scandal, also known as Irisgate, was a political scandal in Northern Ireland which came to light in early January 2010. In a televised interview on 6 January Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's First Minister, revealed that his wife Iris Robinson, had an affair in 2008 and...
. Arlene Foster
Arlene Foster
Arlene Isabel Foster is a politician in Northern Ireland. She is one of two Democratic Unionist Party MLAs representing the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She became Minister of the Environment on 8 May 2009 and was subsequently reshuffled into the...
was designated to discharge the duties of First Minister until his return.
Mr Robinson is facing a claim that he knew his wife obtained £50,000 from two developers for her teenage lover but did not tell the proper authorities. His wife received "acute psychiatric treatment" following a BBC Spotlight documentary about the scandal. On 11 January 2010 Robinson confirmed that he had asked both the House of Commons and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
to carry out an inquiry into his conduct.
Invasion of Clontibret
On 7 August 1986, in protest at the Anglo-Irish AgreementAnglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland...
, Robinson led a group of 500 loyalists into the village of Clontibret
Clontibret
Clontibret is a village and a parish in County Monaghan, Ireland.-Village:The village is situated close to the border with Northern Ireland, between the towns of Monaghan and Castleblayney, along the N2 National primary road, which links Dublin and Derry. The village population in 2006 was...
in County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The loyalists attacked the unmanned Garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
station in the village and daubbed loyalist slogans on the walls. They then held a quasi-military parade along the main street and attacked two Gardaí. More Gardaí arrived shortly after and fired shots in the air, scattering the loyalist crowd. Robinson was arrested and held at Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
Garda station. He pleaded guilty to unlawful assembly
Unlawful assembly
Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group are about to start the act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then termed a riot.- Section 144 :Section 144 is a...
and was fined IR£
Irish pound
The Irish pound was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the usual notation was the prefix £...
17500 in a Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
court to escape a prison sentence. As a result, Robinson briefly resigned from the DUP deputy leadership. There was also violence both before and after a court appearance in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
, including Ian Paisley being attacked with stones and petrol bombs after Jim Wells and other Robinson supporters waved flags and sang Loyalist songs. At his trial the judge described him as "a senior extremist politician".
Ulster Resistance
In November 1986, he spoke at the Ulster HallUlster Hall
The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade B1 listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences...
demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
which launched Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.-Origins:The group was launched at a three thousand-strong invitation-only meeting at the Ulster Hall...
, an organisation which subsequently collaborated with the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
and Ulster Volunteer Force to import arms from South Africa, resulting in Robinson leaving the organisation. Robinson was photographed wearing the loyalist paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
military uniform
Military uniform
Military uniforms comprises standardised dress worn by members of the armed forces and paramilitaries of various nations. Military dress and military styles have gone through great changes over the centuries from colourful and elaborate to extremely utilitarian...
at an Ulster Resistance demonstration.
At a rally in Enniskillen
Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
, Peter Robinson announced; "'Thousands have already joined the movement and the task of shaping them into an effective force is continuing. The Resistance has indicated that drilling and training has already started. The officers of the nine divisions have taken up their duties'.
Views on homosexuality
On 30 October 2008 in his first extensive interview as First MinisterFirst Minister and deputy First Minister
The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...
interview for Hearts and Minds
Hearts and Minds (BBC)
Hearts and Minds is a politics and current affairs programme presented by Noel Thompson for BBC Northern Ireland. The show is on Thursday nights at 7:30pm on BBC Two and at 11:30pm on BBC One...
for BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...
, Peter Robinson publicly stated that homosexuality was against Christian theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
.
Robinson said: “It wasn’t Iris Robinson who determined that homosexuality was an abomination, it was The Almighty
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
. This is the Scriptures
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. It is a strange world indeed where somebody on the one hand talks about equality, but won’t allow Christians to have the equality, the right to speak, the right to express their views.”
The comments angered LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
Christian groups throughout the UK .
Planning application
On 28 May 2009 the Planning Service of Northern Ireland granted Robinson planning permission for six houses to be built in his rear garden on the Gransha Road in the DundonaldDundonald
Dundonald is a large settlement in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often deemed to be a suburb of the city. It includes the large housing estate of Ballybeen, and many new housing estates have emerged in the past ten years....
area of east Belfast.
On 30 March 2010, the BBC reported that Robinson had purchased a piece of land from a developer for £5, enabling him to sell part of his back garden for nearly £460,000. Robinson later claimed that the BBC were leading a smear campaign
Smear campaign
A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with a stigmatized group...
against him.
BBC Spotlight investigation
On 8 January 2010 the BBC Northern IrelandBBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...
programme Spotlight reported on how his wife, Iris, had obtained £50,000 for Kirk McCambley, 19 at the time, while she was sexually involved with him. On the day before the Spotlight programme, Peter Robinson had made an emotional statement to the Press Association
Press Association
The Press Association is the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland, supplying multimedia news content to almost all national and regional newspapers, television and radio news, as well as many websites with text, pictures, video and data content globally...
, BBC, UTV
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
and RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
in regard to the relationship and mentioned that there were no financial wrongdoings. However, the programme showed that when Robinson found out about the financial aspects of his wife's relationship he insisted that the money she had lobbied for and subsequently lent and gifted from two property developers to her lover be returned in full. However, he did not tell the proper authorities what he knew about the transactions between the four, despite being obliged by the Northern Ireland Executive
Northern Ireland Executive
The Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which followed the Good Friday Agreement...
ministerial code of conduct to act in the public interest at all times.
Later that day Robinson's solicitors said he was thoroughly satisfied that he has at all times acted properly and fulfilled all requirements, and would robustly challenge any allegation to the contrary.
On 11 January 2010 Robinson announced that he was stepping down from the position of First Minister for a period of six weeks. Arlene Foster
Arlene Foster
Arlene Isabel Foster is a politician in Northern Ireland. She is one of two Democratic Unionist Party MLAs representing the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. She became Minister of the Environment on 8 May 2009 and was subsequently reshuffled into the...
was nominated as his replacement for this period. Robinson lost his seat in Westminster at the 2010 General Election.
Personal life
Robinson married Iris CollinsIris Robinson
Iris Robinson is a former Northern Ireland Unionist politician. She is married to Peter Robinson, who is currently the First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly....
on 26 July 1970; they have three children, Jonathan, Gareth and Rebekah. His wife has joined him as a councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
, a MLA and a MP. Their son, Gareth Robinson is also member of Castlereagh (borough). They were the first husband and wife ever to represent Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
constituencies in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. His daughter, Rebekah, served as his private secretary for his Advice Centre in the East Belfast constituency. Hazel Kerr serves as the office's main secretary.
Satire
Robinson's character on the BBC's Folks on the Hill television programme is portrayed as aggressive and constantly trying to get away from the Ian PaisleyIan Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
-Martin McGuinness
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
so-called "Chuckle Brothers
Chuckle Brothers
Barry Elliott and Paul Elliott , better known as the Chuckle Brothers, are British comedians. They are best known for their work on their BBC show ChuckleVision, which celebrated its 21st anniversary in March 2010 with a tour called An Audience with the Chuckle Brothers, which started in January...
" image when he works with Martin McGuinness. However it does not appear that he will escape a shared nickname as "Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
" is catching on.
See also
- Democratic Unionist PartyDemocratic Unionist PartyThe Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
- First Minister and deputy First MinisterFirst Minister and deputy First MinisterThe First Minister and the Deputy First Minister , sometimes abbreviated to FM/DFM, are positions in the Northern Ireland...
- Office of the First Minister and deputy First MinisterOffice of the First Minister and deputy First MinisterThe Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive with overall responsibility for the running of the Executive...
- Department of Finance and PersonnelDepartment of Finance and PersonnelThe Department of Finance and Personnel is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
- List of Northern Ireland members of the Privy Council
External links
Offices held
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