Sammy’s weekly column – 11th January 2010
I love my job or jobs as some people keep reminding me, and after a week off during Christmas I was looking forward to getting back to them. There was an election to prepare for, budget statements to finalise for presentation to the Assembly, discussions about the remaining issues to be resolved in order to get to the place where we could move on the devolution of policing and justice, and all the usual dealings with constituents. On Monday I headed into the office fired up and raring to go. By the end of the week I must admit I was emotionally shattered and was asking did I really want to be in this job.
In the course of the week I had seen the public wrecking of a forty year marriage, a strong man shattered, a family in turmoil, and the political arrangements in N.I. brought to the brink of destruction. I am not a very emotional person but I admit to crying as I watched Peter Robinson bare his soul about his marital difficulties on national TV last Wednesday. I know from experience how traumatic it is to have such an intimate hurt scrutinised by the media but for someone as private as Peter it must have been shattering. I have known him both as a friend and a colleague for over 30 years. I served as his political apprentice for about twenty of those years in East Belfast would have socialised with him regularly but even to someone who was close he was always reticent to reveal or discuss his private and domestic life. To have it shared with the nation must have been his worst nightmare.
The next night he then saw for the first time his wife’s lover and heard for the first time some of the financial deals which she had been involved in during that episode of her life. That in itself would have been enough to put the strongest over the edge, but then to have the story turned to implicate him was the final cruel turn of the knife. To live out your professional life in such a harsh, unforgiving, vicious and cynical public forum is one of the reasons why many turn their back on politics.
Of course a free press is the bedrock of a democratic society and it is right that there should be the ability to shine the light of scrutiny into dark corners. However when the story is told and judgements made they should be made on the basis of the facts and not embellished with spin or slanted by bias or prejudice. That is how the story about Iris’s affair and the financial dealings around it should and must be dealt with. The major emphasis by those who want to keep the story alive and make it more substantial has been on the role of Peter, but was is the accusation. It boils down to the claim that he knew about the loans which had been acquired and did not report his wife to the House of Commons authorities.
However the facts as reported by the investigators show that he acted promptly and properly. As soon as he overheard the conversation and discovered what had happened he gave instructions for the money to be paid back in full and immediately. He demanded that the repayment should go through a solicitor so that it could be verified, and that even though one of the people involved was now dead, it be paid back into the estate. Clearly just as the affair was not disclosed, the full details about the money were not given to him by Iris therefore he did not know that some had been retained. The facts as presented do not support the claim that he acted wrongly.
It would be wrong and spiteful to hound anyone out of office on the basis of the story which is currently being reported. This is especially so given the crucial role which Peter Robinson has played in establishing devolved government in N.I. and persuading those who were involved in terrorism and tied to a terrorist organisation to move down the road towards peace, renounce violence and accept the rule of law. Even before he became the leader of the DUP and First Minister he played a crucial role in developing the strategy which brought about this situation and has given us the longest period of stable devolved government since 1998.
As First Minister he has steered the Assembly and Executive through difficult times and has put in a punishing number of hours each week to try and keep the momentum, an immensely difficult task given the checks, balances and vetoes which each party has under the present devolution arrangements. When one approach has failed he has patiently devised and tried another. This kind of political skill is not readily available and should not be casually thrown away.
I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that he future of devolution rests upon the decisions which Peter Robinson will make in the next number of days. He has an immense personal burden to carry and an enormous political decision to make. If someone like me who is only observing his agony questions whether the job is worth it what must he be thinking? I may be accused of bias but many political commentators this weekend have concurred with my view when I say that the political future of N.I. is tied up with Peter Robinson’s decision about his future. It is because we want a better future and want to play a part in shaping it that, despite the hazards associated with it, we will continue with the job as long as our parties and the public permit us.
Tags: future of northern ireland, peter robinson, sammy wilson
