Irish leader's cheating wife attempted suicide

Reuters

PETER ROBINSON: The wife of N Ireland's First Minister has admitted she attempted suicide after an affair.

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The wife of Northern Irish First Minister Peter Robinson says she tried to kill herself last year after being unfaithful to her husband.

Departing Northern Ireland member of parliament Iris Robinson, who last week announced she was withdrawing from public life after battling depression in recent years, said she lost control of her life and began a brief extramarital affair.

"So great was my guilt and regret that I tried to take my own life 10 months ago," she said in a statement, adding that she did not deserve a second chance but had been given one.

In a separate statement, Peter Robinson said the first time he found out about his wife's relationship was on the night of March 1 last year when she tried to take her own life.

"My immediate impulse was to walk away from my marriage," he said, shaking as he read the statement out on local television.

"I felt betrayed after almost 40 years of being happily and closely bonded together. The circumstances I faced however, caused me to take a different course."

The leader of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party said he intended to continue his role in the power-sharing executive which has recently come under strain.

Co-operation in the executive between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein, the political ally of the IRA, could be breaking down due to a dispute over when to take over policing and justice powers from London.

"If there ever reached a situation where I felt that I was in the way of progress, I would gladly stand aside," Robinson cautioned.

"(But) it is my intention to be at my desk tomorrow morning to continue the work the people of Northern Ireland have entrusted to me. I will be meeting with (deputy first minister) Martin McGuinness to discuss how we might make real progress."

Robinson's revelations came on the same day a major Northern Irish paramilitary organisation announced it had dumped all its weapons in front of independent witnesses, completing the disarming of all main militant groups.

- Reuters