Kirk McCambley, who was 19 when he had an affair with Iris Robinson, wife of Northern Ireland's First Minster Peter Robinson, has broken his silence.

He has revealed that he and his 18-year-old girlfriend Rebecca fled to London to escape the media blitz that surrounded the news of his affair that led to Iris Robinson's resignation and her husband stepping down temporarily from his job.

McCambley also admitted he had been interviewed by police about the loan he received from Iris Robinson to open his business.

He said: "Rebecca and I are still together and very happy. I am very much in love. There has been a load of crap written about me and I could have taken legal action, but I didn't, because I just want to be left alone to get on with my life. What happened is in the past."

Kirk McCambley also said he wanted to clear his name about the loan he received from Robinson to start his business, the Lock Keeper's Inn cafe.

"I want to make it clear that the money I was given was an informal loan from Iris. There were no written contracts or anything like that.

"All I was thinking about was getting the business up and running. Where the money came from never entered my head. The council gave me the cafe for the first couple of months after I opened but this is standard practice for any new business.

"They paid for a few other things but everything else came from my own pocket."
Kirk stated that he had been questioned by police about the financial accounts of how he received £50,000 from two wealthy backers of Robinson but insisted he did nothing wrong.

He said: "I've been questioned by police but the bottom line is I've done nothing wrong and broken no rules, everything is above board. I am in no trouble at all.

"I hate the way people think the only reason I got the lease was because of Iris -- I am more than qualified to run the business. I worked in my dad's butcher shop for years and when I was 16 I was practically running the place myself. Being in business is all I have known since I was little."