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Illness forces DUP MP to quit Illness forces DUP MP to quit
(10 minutes later)
The wife of Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson is quitting politics after admitting she is battling mental illness.The wife of Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson is quitting politics after admitting she is battling mental illness.
Iris Robinson, the Democratic Unionist MP for Strangford and a member of the Stormont Assembly, announced she is withdrawing from public life.Iris Robinson, the Democratic Unionist MP for Strangford and a member of the Stormont Assembly, announced she is withdrawing from public life.
She told the Press Association on Monday that she had severe depression.She told the Press Association on Monday that she had severe depression.
"The stress and strain of public life comes at a cost and my health has suffered," she said."The stress and strain of public life comes at a cost and my health has suffered," she said.
Mrs Robinson's decision to leave office followed talks with her husband over Christmas.
"As many people will be aware, I have recently tried to return to the full-time work of representing my constituents following my latest period of illness," she said.
"Over the years, I have undergone a long series of operations and though I have never talked about it publicly, I have, against this background, also battled against serious bouts of depression," she said.
"Only those who have faced similar challenges in life will know the ordeal faced by those who are profoundly depressed and the distress caused to those around them as they grapple with personality changing illness.
"One in four of the population struggle with mental illnesses at one level or another yet few talk about it openly. When I am better able to do so, I want to say more about this period of my life."
Mrs Robinson, 60, a mother of three, has been an MP since 2001. Her husband has represented east Belfast since 1979.
She is the former chairperson of the health committee at the Northern Ireland Assembly and earlier this year provoked outrage within the gay community by claiming homosexuality was "an abomination" and that, with help, gay people could be "turned around".