People on the streets of Belfast last night appeared to have little sympathy for the Northern Secretary's plight. Mr Jim Owens, a management consultant, said he had always thought of Mr Mandelson as a "slippery character".
"He has always been a good parliamentarian but you wonder whether there wasn't a lot of friction between him and Alistair Campbell (Tony Blair's press spokesman). But from a Northern Ireland point of view I think his resignation is not a bad thing. We haven't moved forward in the peace process a lot since he took over, so I don't think he was doing a great job."
Mr Peter Finnigan, an office assistant, said Mr Mandelson had never been able to fill Dr Mowlam's shoes. "Mo Mowlam was so much better as Northern Secretary than him. He should have come down so much harder, both on the IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries. I mean, how can you say somebody hasn't broken their ceasefire just because they are only attacking members of their own community?"
A business woman rushing home from the office had not heard the news of Mr Mandelson's resignation, but said she was "amazed".
"Sure, it seems such a minor thing to resign over - it makes you wonder whether there was a lot more going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. To be honest, I couldn't really care less about him."
Mr Jalia Musih, who works in an Indian restaurant in the city centre, felt Mr Mandelson was being made a "scapegoat".
"I don't think he was very good, but it is absolutely appalling that he should be made to resign just because he had links to Indian businessmen. What is the harm about inquiring about a passport for somebody who has contributed so much money? The word `scapegoat' comes to mind."