The information revealed on BBC Spotlight yesterday evening, has given us a lot to think about.  As I imagined, the sympathy for Peter Robinson has been short-lived.  I predict that there will be a lot of tension within the DUP until Peter Robinson resigns.  No matter what the findings of a private inquiry will be, there is no way he can come through this scandal and expect to maintain the support of his party or the electorate.  Personal problems aside, the fact that he didn’t make known the inappropriate financial situation his wife was involved in, is unacceptable.  Think of it this way, if Mr Robinson had known that a member of another party (TUV, UUP, SDLP or SF) had acted the same as Iris and not declared this money, do you think he would have been as silent?  Of course this is hypothetical and we will never know the answer, but it is food for thought.  Should Peter’s loyalty to this wife be more important than his loyalty to the position of office that he holds and the powers that govern it?

On UTV news this evening, Prof. Rick Walford (QUB – one of my old lecturers, very smart gentleman) made the point that other parties will have a field day with this story.  We must be careful not to be sucked into the campaign that has already begun to unfold from the other parties. Throwing mud at other people is always a good way to make yourself look cleaner.  It would be easy to give our vote to another party or not bother voting at all because we feel even more frustrated with the politics of our country.  However, we need to remember that it is the individual candidates that we vote for, and we should want to vote in the people that will work most effectively for us.  Although they are a member of a party, they are individuals.

I am truly saddened by this whole mess, it is only going to have a damaging effect on our already fragile devolved government.