Robinson agreed to the move on Monday so that the scandal surrounding his wife's affair could be settled.

Calls for Robinson's resignation escalated over the weekend, as several key politicians feared his wife's scandal could cause the region's power-sharing executive to collapse.

Robinson's wife Iris, who is also a top politician, admitted to having an affair with a 19-year-old man last week. She also said she helped to raise 50,000 pounds (55,600 euros) from two wealthy developers for him so he could set up his own café.

Iris Robinson is expected to leave her seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the British House of Commons shortly. She is also receiving psychiatric treatment in Belfast, as she has previously admitted to attempting suicide and suffering severe depression.

Peter Robinson has maintained that he had absolutely no knowledge of his wife's affair or the financial deal between her and the 19-year-old.

Bad timing

The Robinson scandal has come in the midst of a power-sharing struggle between the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Catholic Sinn Fein. The former foes are finding it hard to hold their alliance together, as both sides have failed to agree on whether policing powers should be transferred from London to Belfast.

"We have a political crisis in any case, we didn't need this to be in the middle of it," said Sinn Fein police and justice spokesperson Gerry Kelly.

Northern Ireland's trade and industry minister Arlene Foster has been asked to fill in for Robinson while he is away.

mk/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Michael Lawton