Northen Ireland MP Iris Robinson will not face prosecution for comparing homosexuality to paedophillia
A Northern Irish MP who said gay people could be ‘turned around’ and compared homosexuality to paedophilia will not be prosecuted.
Iris Robinson, the Democratic Unionist Party MP for Strangford, was investigated by police after complaints. She is the wife of the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph in June, she said: “I cannot think of anything more sickening than a child being abused. It is comparable to the act of homosexuality. I think they are all comparable. I feel totally repulsed by both.”
In the same month, she appeared on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show and apparently suggested that being gay was mental illness.
More than 100 complaints were lodged with police over her comments.
She said: “I have a very lovely psychiatrist who works with me in my offices and his Christian background is that he tries to help homosexuals – trying to turn away from what they are engaged in.
“I’m happy to put any homosexual in touch with this gentleman and I have met people who have turned around and become heterosexuals.”
She subsequently said she had not meant homosexuality was a mental health issue but repeated her claim that it was an “abomination”.
A police spokeswoman said: “Following a lengthy and complex investigation into the reported comments made by Mrs Robinson on the Nolan show in June 2008 and comments reported in the Belfast Telegraph and other media in July 2008, police submitted an advice file to the Public Prosecution Service.
“On receipt of the advice of the PPS, and considering all of the matters raised, the Police Service is satisfied that on the occasions considered, Mrs Robinson did not commit an offence. As a consequence, no further police action will be taken in relation to these complaints.”
