First Minister goes swimming with the fishes

As First Minister of Northern Ireland he's used to getting out of slippery situations.

But Peter Robinson found himself out of his depth on Sunday - while cleaning out his koi carp fish pond.

The DUP leader took to Twitter to describe how he plunged in to the water, while removing algae from the sides of the pool.

"Half way through making my fish feel better about themselves I lost my footing and headlong fell into the pond," he tweeted.

"That was the easy part. Getting out of a pond with slippy sides is not easy, especially as the water level is beyond the level of my mouth and nose."

The First Minister said his afternoon dip provided plenty of laughs for his family.

The slip-up is also likely to raise a smile or two from his election opponents.

"My call for help went unanswered as family either chortled and convulsed or searched for insurance policies.

"The First Minister issue was almost settled," he added.

He later said that he only wanted "tweets of sympathy", not "responses about slippery slopes or expressions of concern about my fish".