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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Peter Robinson: NI first minister set to quit within weeks | Peter Robinson: NI first minister set to quit within weeks |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Peter Robinson will step down from his roles as Northern Ireland First Minister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader within weeks, his party has confirmed. | Peter Robinson will step down from his roles as Northern Ireland First Minister and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader within weeks, his party has confirmed. |
| In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he said there are "massive pressures" involved in his work. | In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, he said there are "massive pressures" involved in his work. |
| The 66-year-old suffered a heart attack in May, but has denied he made his decision to leave for health reasons. | The 66-year-old suffered a heart attack in May, but has denied he made his decision to leave for health reasons. |
| He took over as first minister and DUP leader from Ian Paisley in 2008. | |
| Mr Robinson is one of the founding members of the DUP and has had a political career lasting more than 40 years. | |
| Target | |
| The party will hold its annual conference this weekend, and Mr Robinson said it would be "disrespectful" to members to give the impression he would be leading the party into the next Northern Ireland Assembly election, in May 2016. | |
| On Wednesday, Mr Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness announced they had struck a political deal with the British and Irish governments to end a near-three-month crisis at Stormont. | On Wednesday, Mr Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness announced they had struck a political deal with the British and Irish governments to end a near-three-month crisis at Stormont. |
| That deal included an agreement on the devolution of corporation tax powers to Northern Ireland's ruling executive, which had been a long-term target for Mr Robinson. | |
| He said: "I have told the party officers that I don't intend to fight the next assembly election for a wide range of reasons and not simply because those objectives have been achieved. | He said: "I have told the party officers that I don't intend to fight the next assembly election for a wide range of reasons and not simply because those objectives have been achieved. |
| "I very much take the two-term view of politics at the top." | "I very much take the two-term view of politics at the top." |
| Legacy | |
| Mr Robinson suggested in the interview that two separate successors could take on his roles. | |
| Many within the DUP expect North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds to become party leader and Arlene Foster, the current finance minister, to become first minister. | |
| Liam Clarke, the Belfast Telegraph's political editor, who spoke to the First Minister, told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster that Mr Robinson had wanted to "make a good legacy". | |
| "The party officers have asked him to remain on until the assembly is on a firm footing, which he reckons will probably be the new year. | |
| "He wants to complete a few little things, but he's not talking about a really long goodbye." |