In broad state government terms, this year so far has been largely about corruption allegations, and their fallout. Such outbursts are often cyclical, play themselves out, and fade away for a while.

But there's a larger, more fundamental alteration going on, and it speaks more deeply to the body politic's distrust of the system than the public's well-earned suspicion of the body's own rot.

For decades, Peter Robinson was the man in the background, a key player in the world of hard-line unionism but almost entirely obscured by Ian Paisley's epic shadow.

In 1979, at the tender age of 29, Robinson was elected to the British parliament, beginning a political run that has seen him spend the past 30 years, or half of his life, representing East Belfast at Westminster. A year later, in 1980, Robinson was named deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, launching his long-running role as Paisley's loyal understudy.