Sunday, January 10, 2010

Northern Ireland Government In Peril Due To Sex Scandal

An affair involving Iris Robinson, a lawmaker, and a much younger man has shocked Northern Ireland and threatens the government of her husband, Peter Robinson, right, shown in 2008. John Harrison/Press Association, via Associated Press

Government Is In Peril As Scandal Rocks Ulster -- New York Times

LONDON — The sex scandal that has transfixed Northern Ireland in recent days has a cinematic echo: a 60-year-old Mrs. Robinson who was caught in an affair with a man who was 19 at the time, and is now at the center of a scandal that threatens to bring down the power-sharing government that has steered the province out of 30 years of sectarian bloodshed.

Predictably, local newspaper headline writers and bloggers have resorted to catchphrases like “Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson,” borrowed from the song in the 1967 film “The Graduate.” But the storyline unfolding in Belfast has a more serious edge because this Mrs. Robinson, Iris, a stridently moralistic lawmaker, is the wife of the province’s unionist first minister, Peter Robinson, who is now struggling to keep his job.

Read more ....

More News On Northern Ireland

Yes, she's touchy-feely but we weren't lovers, says businessman friend of shamed First Minister's wife -- Daily Mail
Robinson affair splits Free Presbyterian Church -- The Guardian
N. Ireland MP expected to resign posts -- Toronto Star
Pressure Mounts on Top N. Irish Minister to Resign -- New York Times/Reuters
Bombing sparks fears in Northern Ireland -- UPI
Bomb explodes under car in Northern Ireland -- CNN
Northern Ireland's largest Protestant militia surrenders weapons -- L.A. Times
Northern Irish militants disarm, dissident threat remains -- Reuters

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