Robinson bought land for £5

The North's First Minister Peter Robinson bought a piece of land from a developer for £5 (€5.61), the Democratic Unionist Party confirmed tonight.

However the party said its subsequent sale to another builder was not essential for access to a major development in east Belfast which the Robinsons made thousands of pounds from.

It claimed there were no tax implications after the Stormont First Minister and his wife Iris made £460,000 (€516,000) from the sale of part of their garden following the exchange.

A DUP statement said: “The sliver of land was bought for £5 and sold for £5, a fact that has never been hidden, and Mr Robinson derived no financial benefit whatsoever from the transaction.

“There were a number of other access possibilities and the sliver of land was not essential for access.”

The access land was 15m away from his back garden on the Gransha Road.

The couple did not register their ownership of the land, which was bought from late property developer Fred Fraser in April 2005, with the House of Commons. It was sold the following year for the same price and the development went ahead, including part of Mr Robinson’s garden as well as property belonging to his neighbours, which made him nearly £460,000 at market value.

The revelations come two months after the Robinson political dynasty was rocked by a scandal involving Iris Robinson’s business dealings with her teenager lover.

The former Strangford MP, who was forced to quit the seat and her party, is currently the subject of a police investigation after she failed to declare her financial interest in a £50,000 (€56,000) loan she helped secure for her toyboy to set up in business.

Fred Fraser was one of two developers who provided 19-year-old Kirk McCambley with £25,000 (€28,000) to help him set up cafe in south Belfast.

Mrs Robinson, who attempted suicide when her husband discovered the affair and is currently in acute psychiatric care, did not declare her interest to her ex colleagues on Castlereagh council, who awarded the cafe contract to Mr McCambley.

Democratic Unionist leader Mr Robinson was forced to temporarily step down as Stormont First Minister in a bid to clear his name of allegations he became aware of the deal but didn’t alert the appropriate authorities.

The East Belfast MP resumed his role in the power-sharing administration in February after claiming a legal advisor to the government had found that he had done nothing wrong. Additional enquiries by parliamentary watchdogs are ongoing.