BACKGROUND:PETER ROBINSON used a mechanism under the amended Northern Ireland Act 1998 to step aside temporarily from his position as First Minister.
The section of the Act relating to ministerial appointments, section 16 A (11), states that the holder of the office of First Minister may designate a Northern Ireland Minister to exercise the functions of the office.
This can occur “during any absence or incapacity of the holder”, according to the terms of the Act. However, the designated person “shall not have power to act . . . for a continuous period exceeding six weeks”.
The DUP leader yesterday said he needed to devote time “to deal with family matters” and confirmed he had asked the North’s Minister for Enterprise, Arlene Foster, to carry out the functions of the First Minister’s office “for a short period”.
There has been something of a precedent for such a move in Northern politics. In July 2001, the then first minister and Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble, designated Sir Reg Empey, who was then the North’s minister for enterprise, trade and investment, to exercise the functions of his office.
Mr Trimble, now Lord Trimble, resigned from his post, citing a lack of IRA decommissioning as the reason for the move.
At the weekend Lord Trimble said Mr Robinson had lost authority within both the DUP and the wider political system in Northern Ireland.
“To have a situation where a party leader sees his wife expelled from the party and acquiesces in it, doesn’t even persuade the party to give her a decent way out, shows there has been a complete loss of authority,” he said.
“If he is going to fight to clear his name, then the place to do that is from the back benches,” he told the BBC.
The legislation that has allowed Mr Robinson to step down for up to six weeks also indicates that if he were to fully resign, Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness would have to follow suit.
Section 16 B (2) of the Act, which relates to vacancies in the office of First Minister or Deputy First Minister, states: “If either the First Minister or the Deputy First Minister ceases to hold office at any time, whether by resignation or otherwise, the other . . . shall also cease to hold office at that time.” A Sinn Féin spokesman in Stormont last night said he did not wish to comment on the terms of the Act.
Ms Foster, who yesterday addressed the Assembly after Mr Robinson’s announcement, expressed a hope the DUP leader would return to his position soon.
