Iris petition - the buck is passed

Over 15,000 people submitted their names and addresses to an electronic petition held on the government website number10.gov.uk only to be told that the office of the Prime Minister has "no constitutional role" to talk to the wife of the Northern Ireland First Minister.

Robinson sparked outrage earlier this year when she offered to put gay men and women in touch with psychiatrist Dr. Paul Miller who claims he can make them straight though Dr. Miller has since resigned his position as a part-time adviser for the Ulster Democratic Unionist Party.

The official government response goes on to say: "If anyone in Northern Ireland believes that they have been discriminated against on any of these grounds they may be able to bring a complaint to a tribunal or to a county court."

The full statement can be read here.

The people of Northern Ireland were urged to come out in their numbers by local leaders, radio and TV stations to support the annual Belfast Pride parade as it made it's way through the city centre and to demonstrate that Northern Ireland is a country which supports equality.

A few dozen protestors against the parade were faced off by thousands of LGBT people and their supporters on Saturday, 2nd August with the parade being led by famous drag queen Titty Von Tramp.

Parade-goers carried placards denouncing Iris as well as sporting home-made Iris masks with one float on the parade (pictured below) featuring a 6 foot effigy of Iris on the front of it naming her the 'Wicked witch of the North'.