Peter Robinson stands down 'an honourable man'

ENOCH POWELL, the staunchly Conservative British politician, once reflected that “all political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure”. Peter Robinson is about to become an honourable exception.

His decision to step down as Northern Ireland’s First Minister, and as leader of his Democratic Unionist Party, comes just days after he struck a deal with Sinn Féin, and with the Irish and British governments, to save the power-sharing administration in Belfast.

That means that, despite all the heartache and setbacks along the way, Mr Robinson’s long political career will end in triumph.