Northern Ireland first minister to step down before elections

BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson is to stand down from the role and as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, he told the Belfast Telegraph on Thursday, two days after securing a deal to save the province's power-sharing administration. Ahead of his party's annual conference on Saturday, Robinson told newspaper he would step down, though not immediately, and expected a succession process to begin early next year before regional elections in May. The 66-year-old, who has been in politics in Northern Ireland for 40 years, spoke of the "massive pressures" on anybody in the job. Robinson suffered a heart attack this year but he said he was not leaving for health reasons. (Reporting by Ian Graham; Editing by Padraic Halpin and Louise Ireland)