Failure by Iris Robinson to register loan a ‘serious breach’

Iris Robinson was in “serious breach” of Northern Assembly rules for failing to register a £50,000 loan she obtained on behalf of her former lover Kirk McCambley, a Stormont inquiry has found.

The inquiry exonerated her husband, the DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson, of any breaches of the Stormont ministerial code of conduct in relation to what became known as “Irisgate”.

The inquiry was carried out on behalf of the Northern Assembly’s standards and privileges committee by the North’s standards commissioner, Douglas Bain. His 227-page report was published Friday.

The inquiry was requested by Mr Robinson following a BBC Spotlight programme in January 2010 which reported how Ms Robinson in 2008 obtained two loans of £25,000 each from two businessmen for her then 19-year-old lover Mr McCambley.

He used the money to secure a tender from Castlereagh Borough Council to run the Lock Keeper’s Inn on the banks of the River Lagan in south Belfast.

The disclosure caused shock at the time and for a period threatened both Mr Robinson’s position as First Minister and DUP leader, and also the viability of the Northern Executive and Assembly. It also resulted in Ms Robinson standing down as MP and MLA for Strangford.

Had Ms Robinson still been an Assembly member the standards and privileges committee could have imposed sanctions on her up to possible suspension and removal from the Northern Assembly. However, as she is no longer a politician no sanctions can be imposed against her.

Mr Bain found that of various allegations made against her only one stood up in relation to the Assembly members’ code of conduct. He judged that she failed to register the £50,000 payment in the Assembly’s register of members’ interests.

He referred to the two £25,000 payments and the £5,000 payment to her from that overall £50,000 figure and said, “Although there is no evidence that any of the three payments was in fact connected with her role as an MLA they would assuredly have been perceived by members of the public who became aware of them as likely to influence her actions as an MLA.”

“The fact that she failed to register them itself adds weight to the perception of their improper nature. In these circumstances she had a clear duty to register the payments. She failed in her duty. Her failure was a serious breach of the 1999 code of conduct,” added Mr Bain.

Ms Robinson through her solicitor has accepted the inquiry’s findings.

“It is a matter of regret that her admissions of breaching the code were not made until after the investigation had been completed,” said Mr Bain.

The primary allegation against Mr Robinson was that by knowing that his wife had received the £50,000 he contravened the code of conduct by failing to notify the House of Commons, as he was then an MP, the Assembly, Castlereagh Council and the North’s Electoral Commission.

Mr Bain exonerated Mr Robinson, stating, “I have found no authority to support the assertion made in the Spotlight programme that the members’ code of conduct imposes any duty on an MLA to report payments received by his or her spouse in connection with that spouse’s political activities.”

He added: “Even if, following investigation, it was established that Mr Robinson was aware of the payments and that he had not informed (the) authorities of them he would not have breached the members’ code.”

Mr Bain also dealt with how Mr McCambley paid £5,000 from the £50,000 to Ms Robinson to use for “charitable purposes”. He also found that Mr Robinson was under no obligation to inform the “Assembly of any payment made by Mr McCambley to his wife”.

In a letter to the committee in August confirming receipt of the report, Mr Robinson said it “clears me of the BBC’s scurrilous claims of acting improperly and being in breach of the code of conduct.

“The commissioner’s finding is consistent with the conclusions of all the other investigations, inspections, opinions and findings from other independent bodies and examiners - some of whom determined there was not even a prima facia case to justify investigation,” he added.

“I need say no more on my behalf. I simply now await and require an unconditional and fulsome apology from the BBC.”

In that letter, Mr Robinson said of his wife: “Iris has struggled, for the most part successfully, with mental health issues. The only lesson the report on Iris conveys is the sad, tragic and self-destructive behaviour of someone who was mentally ill and who, during such a period, acted entirely out of character.

“Quite why the media, given the circumstances, should think it appropriate to continue with this witch-hunt is something they must justify with their own consciences. The consequences that unquestionably will flow from further relentless, cruel and gratuitous regurgitation of sensationalised stories will once again harmfully affect Iris’s health.”