Post by Jaga on Jan 11, 2010 23:39:14 GMT -7
DUBLIN -- A scandal involving sex and money is unsettling Northern Ireland's normally staid Protestant community, threatening a fragile political accord with its Roman Catholic rivals that ended decades of sectarian violence.
Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionists, a pro-British party that wants Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, announced Monday that he would step aside as first minister in the provincial government for six weeks to try to clear his name.
The move follows allegations in a BBC television documentary that Robinson's wife, Iris, also a leading local politician, solicited money from builders to help her 19-year-old lover start a business, and failed to declare her financial interest to the parliamentary authorities.
Critics say Robinson should have informed the authorities about his wife's dealings once he knew about them.
The affair has prompted references to "The Graduate," the 1967 film in which Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson seduces the young Dustin Hoffman.
But the scandal threatens an unpredictable political fallout for Northern Ireland's experiment in home rule. The charges of adultery and financial impropriety have shocked the DUP, a party founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley on the principles of moral rectitude.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103538.html?nav=hcmodule
Peter Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionists, a pro-British party that wants Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, announced Monday that he would step aside as first minister in the provincial government for six weeks to try to clear his name.
The move follows allegations in a BBC television documentary that Robinson's wife, Iris, also a leading local politician, solicited money from builders to help her 19-year-old lover start a business, and failed to declare her financial interest to the parliamentary authorities.
Critics say Robinson should have informed the authorities about his wife's dealings once he knew about them.
The affair has prompted references to "The Graduate," the 1967 film in which Anne Bancroft's Mrs. Robinson seduces the young Dustin Hoffman.
But the scandal threatens an unpredictable political fallout for Northern Ireland's experiment in home rule. The charges of adultery and financial impropriety have shocked the DUP, a party founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley on the principles of moral rectitude.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011103538.html?nav=hcmodule
