Iris Robinson (born 6 September 1949, Belfast, Northern Ireland as Iris Collins) is a Northern Ireland Unionist politician.

She is the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (MP) for Strangford, and was first elected in the 2001 general election, replacing Ulster Unionist Party MP, John Taylor. She was re-elected in the 2005 General Election. She was first elected councillor for Castlereagh Borough Council in 1989, and served three times as Mayor. Elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly she has served as member for Strangford since 1998; acting as Deputy Whip for the DUP and health spokesperson. She was a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue from 1995 to 1997. In December 2009, she announced that she would leave politics and withdraw from public life following prolonged periods of mental illness.^[1] More recently there have been revalations about an extra-marital affair which some^[who?] believe are the reason for her quitting politics.

She is married to Peter Robinson, who is currently First Minister and the DUP leader, MP for Belfast East, Assembly member and a former Castlereagh councillor.

Robinson describes herself as a born again Christian,^[2] and has publicly stated that "the government has the responsibility to uphold God's laws".^[3] Her expressed views on homosexuality caused controversy in 2008.

Parliamentary record

Since taking up her seat in the House of Commons, Robinson has voted in 32 percent of votes in parliament, below the average among MPs.^[4] In her maiden speech she spoke about the "betrayal" felt by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, criticising the Government's policy on policing.^[5]

Robinson's voting record shows that she voted strongly against introducing foundation hospitals, very strongly for the Iraq War, moderately for an investigation into said war, voted moderately against LGBT rights, and never voted on transparent Parliament or on replacing Trident.^[4] Robinson also voted for Labour's 42-day terror detention, part of the Counter-Terrorism Bill.^[6]

Controversy

Robinson was suspended from Stormont for a day on 19 November 2007 after refusing to withdraw "unparliamentary" comments she had made about the health minister, Michael McGimpsey.^[7]

Comments about homosexuality

In June 2008, shortly after a homophobic attack (involving physical assault) on a gay man in Northern Ireland, she made comments on the BBC Radio Ulster's Stephen Nolan Show offering to recommend homosexuals to psychiatric counselling.^[8] While condemning the attack,^[9] she claimed that homosexuality was an "abomination" and it made her feel "sick" and "nauseous", and offered to refer homosexuals to a psychiatrist she knew. In a subsequent interview Mrs Robinson defended her views and denied prejudice against LGBT people, saying that "just as a murderer can be redeemed by the blood of Christ, so can a homosexual.... If anyone takes issue, they're taking issue with the word of God".^[10] Her comments were rebuffed by representatives of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Rainbow Project, the Alliance Party, ^[11] Sinn Féin,^[12] and the Social Democratic and Labour Party.^[13][14] The psychiatrist in question, Dr. Paul Miller, later resigned as her "adviser", and temporarily stood down from his post of consultant psychiatrist at Belfast's Mater hospital.^[15] A police investigation followed these comments, over 100 complaints were made,^[16][17][18] and gay rights activist Robert Toner also made a complaint to the Equality Commission.^{[16][19][20][21]}

Robinson again repeated her view in the Northern Ireland Assembly on 30 June 2008 when questioned by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey^[22][23] in a discussion about "LGBT Groups: Mental-Health Needs". Speaking in a Northern Ireland Grand Committee session on Risk Assessment and Management of Sex Offenders, she said: "There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children"^[24] She reiterated her statement to the Belfast Telegraph on 21 June 2008,^[25] but later claimed that she had been "misrepresented" in Hansard.^[26] Her claims of misrepresentation were challenged when Alliance Party Executive Director Gerry Lynch confirmed with Hansard staff that Robinson's comments were in fact correctly quoted.^[27] Further controversy was caused on 17 July 2008 when on the Stephen Nolan Show Robinson stated "it is the government's responsibility to uphold God's law".^[28]

By late July 2008, the Belfast Telegraph reported that "[A]lmost 11,000 people have signed a petition calling on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reprimand DUP MP Iris Robinson over her controversial remarks about homosexuality" and "[Fewer than] 30 people have signed an opposing petition calling on the Prime Minister to allow the comments to go un-reprimanded as a matter of personal opinion and religion".^[29] Links to petition were featured on a Labour Party website.^[30] The Liberal Democrats^[31] and Amnesty International^[32] also featured similar links on their sites. The petiton ended with almost 16,000 petitioners. As a result of her comments, Robinson was nominated for "Bigot of the Year" for 2008 by gay rights association Stonewall.^[33][34] In October 2008 Iris' husband, First Minister Peter Robinson, said “It wasn’t Iris Robinson who determined that homosexuality was an abomination, it was The Almighty. This is the Scriptures and 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.” ^[35]

Iris Robinson's comments were investigated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland for using threatening, abusive or insulting words which have the likelihood to stir up hatred and arouse fear.^[36] The police found that no offence had been committed and on 20 March 2009, the Public Prosecution Service confirmed that Robinson would not be prosecuted for her comments. ^[37] The Rainbow Project in Belfast described the decision as "a complete miscarriage of justice".^[38]

Expenses row

In April 2009, both Iris and Peter Robinson came under fire after Commons MPs' expenses accounts were leaked to the press. The couple were branded "swish family Robinson" after claims that they were receiving £571,939.41 a year in various salaries and expenses,^[39] with a further £150,000 in salaries being paid to four of the couple's family members.^[40]

Personal life

Iris Robinson is a Pentecostal Christian and is a member of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Belfast, an Elim Pentecostal Church in Belfast. She married Peter Robinson on 26 July 1970; they have three children. They are the first husband and wife ever to represent Northern Ireland constituencies in Parliament at the same time.^[41]

Extramarital affair, attempted suicide and resignation

On the 28 December, 2009, Iris Robinson announced her decision to quit politics after admitting she has suffered serious bouts of depression. She said the stress and strain of public life came at a cost and her health had suffered.^[42]

On 6 January 2010, following her retirement, she issued a statement in which she admitted that she had attempted suicide following the exposure of her role in an extramarital affair during 2009, with a teenager. She also admitted encouraging friends to provide financial backing to assist her lover in a business venture. ^[43] BBC's Spotlight programme revealed on January 7, 2010 that her lover was a 19 year old man when the affair began.^[44][45] It has since been revealed by the media that the payments she arranged from property developers to her former lover, Kirk McCambley, were not declared to the Northern Ireland Assembly and this broke the law. Iris Robinson subsequently received £5,000 from Kirk McCambley as a gift. Peter Robinson pressed his wife to return this money, but he failed to tell the proper authorities about the transaction, despite being obliged to act in the public interest as First Minister of Northern Ireland.^[46]