Northern Ireland’s torrid Mrs. Robinson scandal unfolded further today, as newspaper reports suggested the wife of First Minister Peter Robinson may have been involved with both father and son.
There is “widespread belief” that she had a relationship not just with the 19-year-old Kirk McCambley, but also with his father Billy, according to today’s London Independent.
Billy was a butcher in east Belfast, who died in February 2008 of cancer. Before he died he is said to have asked Iris Robinson to take care of his son.
That she most certainly did. She befriended Kirk and apparently helped him obtain £50,000 ($80,000) from property developers to start up his own business running a cafe. In her role as an official in the local council of Castlereagh, she obtained approval for the project, without ever declaring her relationship with Kirk, according to reports.
And at some point her relationship with the 19-year-old Kirk McCambley became sexual. Mrs. Robinson was 59 at the time. The relationship ended last autumn and Mrs. Robinson asked McCambley to return the money.
Peter Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party leader, knew about the affair from March 2009. He was trying to keep his hands clean of financial matters, according to the Irish Times.
Mrs. Robinson is a member of the Light ’n’ Life Church at Dundonald, Co Antrim. She is well known for her strong conservative views, and had spoken out against homosexuality. The Democratic Unionist Party, which she also represents politically as a member of parliament, is profoundly religious and supportive of family values.
The scandal has thrown the DUP into disarray, and its potential repercussions are broad. If Sinn Fein were to become the biggest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly it could elect the First Minister, the Independent report pointed out. This could cause the peace process to unravel.
Peter Robinson has said he will not stand down.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.IreneMarie | Jan 14, 2010, 09:33 PM EST
The loudest yellers are often the biggest offenders.
degothseir | Jan 11, 2010, 07:59 PM EST
She's sure one hot Momma,I love it
dingle999 | Jan 10, 2010, 09:16 AM EST
"Where is this story about the dad? Can't find it on independent.co.uk. Astonishing if true" It is been reported in The Sunday Tribune (Dublin) newspaper http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2010/01/meanwhile-back-with-mrs-robinson.html
johnusa | Jan 09, 2010, 08:45 PM EST
http://gay-girls-guide.blogspot.com/2010/01/mrs-iris-robinson-spoof-hilarious.html
johnusa | Jan 09, 2010, 08:33 PM EST
A leading psychologist has described the relationship between Iris Robinson and her teenage lover as something akin to a Greek tragedy. Dr Raman Kapur, a clinical psychologist who specialises in psychotherapy, believes the wife of the First Minister and her lover Kirk McCambley are victims of the Oedipal complex — the term used to describe when a young man falls in love with his mother.
johnusa | Jan 09, 2010, 08:18 PM EST
Iris Robinson’s young lover Kirk McCambley has become an unlikely icon for the gay community. Members of the homosexual community were left outraged when Mrs Robinson described their behaviour as “an abomination”. The UK’s best-selling gay magazine Attitude has asked the 21-year-old to pose on the next edition of its front cover. Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/iris-robinsons-lover-kirk-mccambley-becomes-instant-gay-pinup-14629029.html#ixzz0cATbPvZJ
johnusa | Jan 09, 2010, 08:17 PM EST
He was named by the BBC as Mr McCambley, a Catholic man, who was 19 at the time of the affair. He confirmed to the Spotlight Programme that he had an affair with the married woman. It is understood that the lover set up his business in a building constructed by Castlereagh Borough Council, supported by the EU Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme and administered by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. It has emerged that 24 hours before the surprise announcement, a BBC documentary team had confronted her husband, Peter Robinson, at Stormont with questions about the couple's financial affairs. Asked if he was confident that neither he nor his wife had done anything illegal, Mr Robinson said: "I am absolutely certain that everything I have done has been done as it should." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/6948341/Iris-Robinsons-lover-named-as-Kirk-McCambley.html
pasternak | Jan 09, 2010, 05:43 PM EST
There is a facebook campaign to get 'Here's to you, Mrs Robinson' to Number 1 in the UK Charts. Does anyone know if we need to buy it from the North?
DrTrelawney | Jan 09, 2010, 01:15 PM EST
Where is this story about the dad? Can't find it on independent.co.uk. Astonishing if true.
olovely | Jan 09, 2010, 10:57 AM EST
Exodus 20:16: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
olovely | Jan 09, 2010, 10:56 AM EST
This woman spent all of 2009 dehumanizing gay people in the strongest possible language for their so-called immorality whilst she was committing adultery with a 19 year old. The Bible she loves to bash others with considers adultery a much graver sin. I just think she's an out and out hypocrite. She should apologize to the people she attacked.
Rebelforce | Jan 09, 2010, 10:11 AM EST
Those are some mighty flattering pictures of the Robinsons IrishCentral is choosing to publish. Pictures I've seen elsewhere show Peter looking like he just sucked a lemon and Iris indeed looking like the "Wicked witch of the north".
irishimport | Jan 09, 2010, 09:00 AM EST
Imagine a bitch like that causing the peace process to be dissolved and sending ireland back to the bad old days. How many more will die because of her infedility.
CitizenWhy | Jan 09, 2010, 08:03 AM EST
I thought that picture was of John Stewart, a US comic who reports politics in a satirical way. This affair he would report factually, couldn't make it weirder. Why are right wing politicos so odd about sex?