DUP

[John83]

I'd say it's fairly well covered by Thou Shalt Not Kill. Though I once had it explained to me by a minister of the Free Presbyterian Church that what looks like like a fairly unequivocal commandment is actually about as water tight as a collander.
He went on to explain that according to the bible (or his preferred chinese whisper translation of it at any rate) that particular commandment refers only to the taking of life amongst the private and unauthorised citizenry. State sanctioned killings/executions are not only exempt but are INSISTED upon as a form of punishment elsewhere in the 'Good Book'.

Yes. A better translation is "Thou Shalt Not Murder", murder being rather more legalistic.

My first reaction was one of sympathy, but I'm not sure how much sympathy a corrupt, homophobic, hypocritical philanderer is deserving of.

[bennocelt]

He was a publicly funded employee and he was being used as her personal bulter. Anything you text/email to your public-employed assistant is not private. They're publicly owned and it's fair enough for their contents to be made public.
.

Yeah I am aware of that, but still I think its a little low to make public texts that are private, considering that she was mentally unstable as well

[Lionel Ritchie]

Yeah I am aware of that, but still I think its a little low to make public texts that are private, considering that she was mentally unstable as well

Oh come on Bennocelt you're not buying the mentally unstable toss are you? (well other than her default setting being mad as a bag o'rats). I'm pretty sure I told a (soon to be ex) girlfriend back in my salad days that I was in the away stand all the time because I was mental when truth probably was NASA could've certified me fit to fly and I'd still have been off chasin' tail.

[jinxy lilywhite]

Covered by 'Thou shalt not kill', iirc.

sorry about that had a jinx moment .
I did think of that only one but i would of took kill/murder in reference to somebody and not oneself but yeah I get the meaning. apologies

[dahamsta]

elsewhere in the 'Good Book'.

That's what's fun about the bible though, everything is ok somewhere in there. It's a licence to do what you damned well please.

[brendy_éire]

Yeah I am aware of that, but still I think its a little low to make public texts that are private, considering that she was mentally unstable as well

I don't think it's low at all. Any personal emails I send from my Govt email address are public property. If they're read by someone else or made public, that's fair enough.
And aye, I don't really buy the whole 'mentally unstable' thing either. And even if it's true, it doesn't excuse breaking the law.

[John83]

That's what's fun about the bible though, everything is ok somewhere in there. It's a licence to do what you damned well please.

My personal favourite is 2 Kings 2:23-24: God sends bears to eat children for telling a prophet to "Feck off, baldie" (Or words to that effect).

[micls]

Poor woman must have missed the 10 commandments in her haste to compare homosexuals to child abusers.

[Dodge]

My personal favourite is 2 Kings 2:23-24: God sends bears to eat children for telling a prophet to "Feck off, baldie" (Or words to that effect).

Yeah, I looked it up. so what?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...02&version=NIV

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!"

He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

[Mad Moose]

I'd say it's fairly well covered by Thou Shalt Not Kill. Though I once had it explained to me by a minister of the Free Presbyterian Church that what looks like like a fairly unequivocal commandment is actually about as water tight as a collander.
He went on to explain that according to the bible (or his preferred chinese whisper translation of it at any rate) that particular commandment refers only to the taking of life amongst the private and unauthorised citizenry. State sanctioned killings/executions are not only exempt but are INSISTED upon as a form of punishment elsewhere in the 'Good Book'.

An exhausted Moses had little time for the finer details of the just delivered commandments.

Incredible story and I have no sympathy for Iris (or Irish as I heard her called tonight on a BBC broadcast ) whatsoever and I've smiled the last few days over these revelations. I've no problem with anybody making a mistake. We all do but to be in the midst of an adulterous relationship with a teenager, while spouting publicly that homosexuality and the lying of men together and women together is an abomination, shows her for the shallow little person she really was and is.

There's more to follow no doubt and I have every confidence this will unravel in time. Peter Robinson has been given one week (a development in the last hour) to clear his name of any impropriety in this matter.

[Not Brazil]

When Mrs. Robinson comes out with rhetoric about homosexuals being inhuman and they should be shot, whilst knowingly breaking one of the 10 commandments or even one of the 7 deadly sins, while earlier this week Mr Robinson being probably the only prominent person not to offer condolences for the death of cardinal daly

I'm no fan of "The Robinsons", or the Party they represent (in Iris's case, represented) for a variety of reasons (I'm a constituent of Peter Robinson), but it's important to stick to facts.

1. Iris Robinson's misguided rant about homosexuals did not include any reference to "they should be shot".

2. Peter Robinson did offer his condolences on the death of Cardinal Daly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8438316.stm

[gustavo]

I'm no fan of "The Robinsons", or the Party they represent (in Iris's case, represented) for a variety of reasons (I'm a constituent of Peter Robinson), but it's important to stick to facts.

1. Iris Robinson's misguided rant about homosexuals did not include any reference to "they should be shot".

]

She does however have the opinion that they are worse morally than paedophiles

http://www.publications.parliament.u...7/80617s02.htm

There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children.

[osarusan]

She does however have the opinion that they are worse morally than paedophiles

http://www.publications.parliament.u...7/80617s02.htm

I don't think Not Brazil is trying to soften the criticism in any way, just trying to ensure that she is only criticised for the vile comments she did actually make.

[old git]

I'm no fan of "The Robinsons", or the Party they represent (in Iris's case, represented) for a variety of reasons (I'm a constituent of Peter Robinson), but it's important to stick to facts.

1. Iris Robinson's misguided rant about homosexuals did not include any reference to "they should be shot".

2. Peter Robinson did offer his condolences on the death of Cardinal Daly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8438316.stm

condolences offered 4 days after he died and after robinson criticised by former church of ireland primate lord eames and senior ex political rivals ..

[Gather round]

condolences offered 4 days after he died and after robinson criticised by former church of ireland primate lord eames and senior ex political rivals ..

I've no brief for Robinson, but maybe given his and his wife's problems he had slightly more pressing concerns than Daly's funeral, or Eames's and Mallon's gurning?

[Closed Account 2]

There can be no issue with the age gap - and there are many men who go out with much younger women so why can't it be the other way around. The age is legal and plenty of men go out with younger women. I think it's bad she did it when in a long term relationship. Even if there were mitigating circumstances, e.g. her husband not being able to satisfy her or whatever, she should have ended one relationship before starting the other. I guess it naive to think such things don’t happen in the modern world but if you are in the spotlight such transgressions will always be highlighted, and you will see things of ridicule like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRwTj...eature=related

The bad thing is she seems to have manipulated the guy, offering him £45,000 which could be interpreted as a form of solicitation. Perhaps he would have done it anyway irrespective of money changing hands. But I would imagine that a significant percentage of single men would have done it for £45 - it's a significant amount of money and while her best years might be behind her she is not totally abhorrent from a looks perspective from certain angles.

Even though I’m not a fan of her husband, you have to feel an element of sympathy for him. He must be the butt of a thousand jokes and snide remarks at Stormont – we all know politics is full of hecklers and back-stabbers. He must have a pretty low level of self esteem at this moment in time and with one revelation after another it must be hard to pull himself together. But if he has breached the law then there will be consequences.

[Gather round]

But if he has breached the law then there will be consequences

Even if he hasn't I can't see him returning to the top gig- the ridicule you mention will see to that.

Both Robbo himself (and President Arlene speaking on his behalf) have stressed he hasn't done anything illegal. Maybe not- and it looks as if the two main witnesses, Black and McCambley, might be flaky. But if he has breached the MP/MLA/ councillor code(s) up here by turning a blind eye to dodgy financial dealings, surely he's toast even if no fraud or other specific offence has been committed?

[brendy_éire]

maybe given his and his wife's problems he had slightly more pressing concerns than Daly's funeral, or Eames's and Mallon's gurning?

I don't really buy that. He'd been dealing with his wife's problems since March. The story about the affair hadn't broke by that stage. It felt as though he didn't really want to make a comment about Eames, but felt he had to.

Both Robbo himself (and President Arlene speaking on his behalf) have stressed he hasn't done anything illegal.

He hasn't really been accused of doing anything illegal himself though, has he? It's more that he didn't report something illegal.
Either way, I don't see how he'll recover from this.

Dodds next FM? The deal on policing and justice seems a wee bit closer this week, and I reckon if Robinson isn't coming back, they'll want that sorted asap. I doubt SF would elect a new FM and DFM without it, and the DUP are terrified of an Assembly election.

[Macy]

condolences offered 4 days after he died and after robinson criticised by former church of ireland primate lord eames and senior ex political rivals ..

Who cares - members of one homophobic religion not commiserating with members of another homophobic religion... In the scheme of the story it's irrelevant imo.

[old git]

Who cares - members of one homophobic religion not commiserating with members of another homophobic religion... In the scheme of the story it's irrelevant imo.

who cares .... for a leader of one of the biggest unionist partys in n.ireland and first minister for northern ireland assembly part of a new goverment trying to repair problems, unite communities in n.ireland surely it makes sense to offer condolences on cardinal daly's death a man who was heavily involved in the process that established peace in the north........ and maybe it would help mend a few more bridges for a lot of catholics in n.ireland ... so it is relevent in story as the story has a bigger picture.