Mrs. Robinson you dirty thing!

[Trilby]

How refreshing.

Iris Robinson’s membership of the Democratic Unionist Party has been terminated and she will leave Westminster and her MLA’s position in Stormont due to the shame over her financial dealings with a young lover.

Earlier this week, it was alleged Mr Robinson did not tell the authorities his wife failed to register £50,000 she obtained from two property developers.

He has asked officials at the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister to investigate his conduct and has said he believes he has not done anything wrong.

However, Mr Robinson added he would “not be slow” in taking a decision if the investigation found that he should have acted differently.

The source from the DUP said party officers would meet as early as Monday to decide who would replace Mrs Robinson as MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

However there will not be a by-election for her Westminster Strangford seat as a general election is likely before the formal writ can be moved.

Mrs Robinson announced just after Christmas she was quitting politics because of severe depression.

But it has since emerged Iris had secured £50,000 from two wealthy developers to help her then 19-year-old toyboy set up a restaurant business in south Belfast.

Her husband Peter has been left fighting to clear his name after insisting he did not know of his wife’s irregular financial dealings with her teenage lover.

It is believed Mrs Robinson remains living at their east Belfast home.

Mr Robinson faced calls to resign or consider his future amid heightening unease and deep disquiet within his own ranks.

It is claimed he failed to alert the authorities that Mrs Robinson did not declare her monetary interest in her lover Kirk McCambley’s restaurant - even though she was a member of the council that gave him the go-ahead to open in 2008.