Iris Out
When the Stormont triangle of Robinson-McGimpsey-Robinson first came into existence I knew in my bones there would be trouble. And so it came to pass this lunchtime, when Willie Hay suspended Iris Robinson from the Stormont building for a day.
The eviction follows a fortnight of rumbling discontent between the Robinsons and Minister McGimpsey. First the Health Minister didn't hide his dissapointment with Peter Robinson's budget. Then the Finance Minister pointed out that Health was getting 48% of his entire resources.
The Health Minister said he had only signed up to the budget as a draft intended for further consultation. Then the Chair of the Health Committee aka the Wife of the Finance Minister accused the Health Minister of misleading the Assembly.
That led to complaints from Ulster Unionists who believed the remark effectively accused their man of being a liar.
Today the Speaker ruled the comment "unparliamentary" and demanded that Mrs Robinson withdraw it. She refused and then became the first MLA to be "named". That means she was ordered out of Stormont and its precincts for the day. Accompanied by an Assembly Security Guard, she made her way out of the buiding.
I don't know where Iris has gone for her lunch but those who followed the Stormont proceedings of 16th October will know that she is a devotee of Daisies cafe in the grounds of the Ards Hospital.
I'm 
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Iris Robinson doesn't seem repentant at all about what she did. Do you think this will humble her, or make her worse?
I personally think that Mrs Robinson has every right to question the actions of Mr McGimpsey - that is her job. However I think the way it was handled could have been better.
Mark, is it intentional that the link goes back to the debate on October 16th?
Just because Michael McGimpsey stood up for the health of the people of N. Ireland doesn鈥檛 give the right for Iris Robinson to make deflammatory comments in the assembly. In my opinion Iris Robinson shouldn鈥檛 have a position in any committee as whatever her husband say as Finance Minister goes. On a recent interview on Radio Ulster's Evening Extra Michael McGimpsey stated that people rely on the health service when we are young and in the final 3rd of our live. I completely agree with this. Peter Robinson should realise this. We all get sick including Civil Servants. Peter Robinson has now decided after punishing Civil Servants for being sick to now punish the general public. Peter who pays your wages? You say that efficiencies need to be made in every department including health. Why don鈥檛 you ban Cigarettes and ban alcohol? I will tell you why you won鈥檛. Why you rely too much on the taxes. If we banned these 2 then people wouldn鈥檛 be running to the hospitals or GP's week in week out looking for cures to the illnesses people have given themselves.
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Repentance is something DUP politicians demand from others rather than pactice themselves.
Does she still have to apologise to the Speaker or is this dispute technically over with the 1 day suspension?
MARK REPLIES: The link was deliberate - leading to Iris's comments about Daisies cafe. Her exchange with Willie Hay had not been published on the official report when I made this entry so I could not link to that.
So far as I am aware once she has served her suspension that is the end of the matter.
If she wants to know what to do after coming back from being named, she can ask the First Minister. How many times has he been named by the Speaker of the House of Commons?
As to the link: Thank you, Mark; I thought it was something like that, but was a bit confused.
Mark
IRIS鈥橲 SUSPENSION NOT ALL IT SEEMS
You鈥檙e right that a bust-up between Iris Robinson and Michael McGimpsey was inevitable but there鈥檚 something more devious at play in her suspension. I think the DUP engineered the incident to take the spotlight off Mr Speaker, whose performance so far has been, to say the least, a bit flaky.
For some time there have been murmurings about the Speaker鈥檚 lack of competence as well as growing doubts about his impartiality in conducting Assembly business. Arguably, the competence issue, most noticeably his verbal mumbling and stumbling, can be put down to new-to-the-job and learning-curve reasons but the bias question is much more difficult to dismiss.
To date, the most glaring example of the Speaker鈥檚 inherent bias was shown in his response to Peter Robinson鈥檚 Point of Order (POO) following Margaret Ritchie鈥檚 CTI Statement in the Assembly on 16 October.* His conduct on that occasion was nothing short of disgraceful. It was compounded on 22 October by his adamant refusal to respond to SDLP concerns about his handling of the Robinson POO.**
Given that Willie was previously a party grandee, the DUP have been worried that his poor performance would reflect badly on them. Iris鈥檚 verbal ruck with McGimpsey provided a perfect opportunity to show the Speaker in a better light. In giving the Speaker no option but to suspend her, the DUP is hoping to stem criticism that he is favouring them over other Parties. Importantly, the suspension carried no risk for the DUP. There were no policy implications and it won鈥檛 hurt Iris, who has gone into the record books as the first MLA to receive a red card. And Boy, didn鈥檛 the DUP make the most of her haughty, flouncing exit with faux cries of indignation from the troops filling the air as Iris strode regally out of the Chamber.
For the foreseeable future the DUP will cite Iris鈥檚 groundbreaking suspension as proof-positive that the Speaker is on a par with Caesar鈥檚 wife, totally above suspicion. If you believe that, you鈥檒l believe anything!
* cf Post 10 within this link: /blogs/thereporters/markdevenport/2007/10/ultra_vires.html
** See under 鈥淎ssembly Business鈥 within the following link:
Susie
Carryduff
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