At the end of an extraordinary week in Northern Ireland politics First Minister Peter Robinson still faces serious questions about staying in office. He claims that he has done nothing wrong and this will be examined by an independent authority, but his long-term future as First Minister is by no means certain.

The broad sweep of the Robinson family saga and the details revealed in Thursday's BBC Spotlight programme are almost the stuff of soap opera. Sadly, however, they affect people in real-life and a number of individuals and families have been badly hurt.

Whatever the political implications of this still-unfolding drama, the human dimension should not be overlooked or the suffering taken for granted.

To their credit senior politicians have refrained from dwelling on the personal nature of the revelations, but serious political questions cannot be avoided.

The political career of Iris Robinson is finished. The question now is whether her behaviour has dealt a fatal blow to that of her husband, if only by association.

By failing to report details of his wife's financial dealings Mr Robinson may have left himself open to accusations that he has broken the Ministerial code of conduct.

In effect, he has placed his career in the hands of an independent inquiry which will determine whether or not he has broken the rules.

Given the complexity of the story there may be further developments on the property issues, and even yesterday during television interviews Mr Robinson seemed surprised at some of the revelations in the BBC Spotlight programme the night before.

One of the practical considerations facing Mr Robinson is whether or not any man can continue to focus totally on such an onerous job as that of First Minister while he also has to care for a demonstrably-ill wife and the traumatic fallout from her personal life and financial dealings.

While this personal and political drama is being played out, yesterday's dissident republican bomb that seriously injured a young policeman was a stern reminder that the die-hards have not gone away.

This is all the more reason why a speedy solution must be found to the vexed question of devolving police and justice powers which, if unsolved, could lead to the collapse of the Stormont power-sharing Executive.

These are difficult and dangerous times and while Mr Robinson has every right to fight his corner, the basic questions about his future as First Minister simply refuse to go away.