Former and current members of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) knew of allegations about the former leader Jeffrey Donaldson but did not share them, the party has admitted, as fresh claims engulfed the party in crisis.
The information was not reported through “appropriate channels” and left the DUP unable to formally respond, the party’s leader, Gavin Robinson, said on Monday. His statement came after a jury at Newry crown court on 22 June unanimously found the 63-year-old guilty of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape, against two women when they were children. He is to be sentenced in September and is expected to appeal, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
“DUP admits former and current members knew of allegations against Jeffrey Donaldson but failed to report them.”
The DUP suspended Donaldson when he was first charged in 2024 and welcomed the verdict, but hopes of containing the political damage have dissolved amid a clamour over what the party knew – and when – about other misconduct by the former Lagan Valley MP.
It is now alleged that Donaldson sexually pestered women, visited a gay sauna while denouncing homosexuality and got drunk on foreign trips – and vomited over the mayor of Beijing – while professing to be a teetotaller. The DUP announced an independent review into its handling of information about Donaldson, but other parties at Stormont questioned the investigation’s credibility and transparency. “It is not tenable for the DUP to be hiring those who will be investigating extremely grave allegations against their former party leader,” said Sorcha Eastwood, an Alliance MP who won Donaldson’s seat after he stepped down in 2024.
Some commentators called it the biggest crisis in the DUP’s history. Wallace Thompson, a founding member, said the party’s traditional emphasis on moral rectitude amplified the fallout. “It is almost like a nuclear explosion in political terms,” he told the BBC. The party’s late founder, Ian Paisley, would be turning in his grave, said Thompson.
The BBC’s Spotlight programme reported that five years ago, two senior DUP members were made aware of allegations against Donaldson – unrelated to the recent criminal case – made by a young woman who said she had been “exploited” by him. The former North Antrim MP Ian Paisley Jr told the programme …