This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/25/peter-robinson-northern-ireland-first-minister-heart-admitted-hospital

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's first minister, admitted to hospital Northern Ireland first minister Peter Robinson suffers suspected heart attack
(35 minutes later)
The first minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson, has been taken to hospital for tests after feeling unwell. Northern Ireland’s first minister, Peter Robinson, has been taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack.
Robinson, who is 66, arrived at an unnamed hospital just after 9am on Monday morning, where it is understood he is being treated for a suspected heart condition. The 66-year-old was initially admitted to the Ulster hospital in east Belfast on Monday morning after feeling unwell.
A spokesman for the Democratic Unionist party said: “The first minister felt unwell this morning and has been admitted to the hospital for some further tests.” He was transferred to Belfast’s Royal Victoria hospital, where his family are at his bedside and have appealed for privacy.
It is believed Robinson, who succeeded Ian Paisley as Northern Ireland’s first minister in 2008, travelled to hospital in an ambulance. Confirming the first minister’s illness, a Democratic Unionist party spokesman said Robinson “felt unwell this morning and has been admitted to the hospital for some further tests”.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tweeted that he was concerned to hear the news. The DUP leader had been about to enter a difficult week in Ulster politics amid warnings that the Northern Ireland Executive might collapse over a failure to implement the welfare reform bill.
“My thoughts and prayers are with him, Iris and family,” he said. The two nationalist parties in the five-party power-sharing coalition at Stormont, Sinn Féin and the SDLP, had vowed over the weekend to veto the bill, which paves the way for cuts to the public sector and spending.
Robinson and the DUP have insisted Sinn Féin and the SDLP had signed up welfare reforms as part of the Stormont House Agreement at the start of this year. The cuts to jobs and service are part of a deal with the UK Treasury to obtain a low corporation tax for Northern Ireland.
Robinson has held the post of first minister since 2008, with his former political foe Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin as his deputy.
Concerned to hear First Minister Peter Robinson has been admitted to hospital.My thoughts & prayers are with him,Iris & family.Concerned to hear First Minister Peter Robinson has been admitted to hospital.My thoughts & prayers are with him,Iris & family.
Mike Nesbitt, leader of the Ulster Unionist party, was among the politicians to wish Robinson a speedy recovery. “My thoughts and prayers are with him, Iris and family,” McGuinness tweeted on Monday.
He said: “I am sorry to hear that the first minister has been taken into hospital this morning and I wish Peter a full and speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with him and his family.” Mike Nesbitt, leader of the Ulster Unionist party, also wished Robinson a speedy recovery. He said: “I am sorry to hear that the first minister has been taken into hospital this morning and I wish Peter a full and speedy recovery. Our thoughts are with him and his family.”
More details soon … Robinson has weathered both personal and political controversy. In 2010 his wife Iris was expelled from the DUP after she was revealed to have had an affair with a teenager.
Robinson threatened to resign in February 2014 unless there was a judicial inquiry into the on-the-runs scandal, in which secret “amnesty” letters were given to more than 180 IRA suspects.
David Cameron caved into pressure and promised an inquiry hours before a midnight deadline set by Robinson, pulling Northern Ireland back from the brink of political meltdown.
The DUP leader’s ultimatum followed the collapse of the trial of John Downey, suspected of involvement in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing which killed four soldiers.