The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) has admitted that former and current members were aware of allegations about its former leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, but failed to report them through official channels. DUP leader Gavin Robinson stated on Monday that the information was not reported appropriately, leaving the party unable to formally address the claims.
New Allegations Emerge After Conviction
The admission comes as a series of new allegations about Donaldson's conduct have plunged the party into crisis, just a week after he was convicted of sexual abuse against children in a case that shocked Northern Ireland. The 63-year-old former Lagan Valley MP was found guilty by a jury at Newry Crown Court on June 22 of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape, against two women when they were children. Sentencing is scheduled for September, and the Belfast Telegraph reports that he is expected to appeal.
It is alleged that Donaldson sexually harassed women, visited a gay sauna while publicly denouncing homosexuality, and consumed alcohol on foreign trips—including an incident where he vomited over the mayor of Beijing—despite professing to be a teetotaller.
Party's Response and Independent Review
The DUP had suspended Donaldson when he was first charged in 2024 and welcomed the verdict. However, hopes of containing the political damage have dissipated amid questions about what the party knew and when regarding other misconduct. The DUP has announced an independent review into its handling of information about Donaldson. However, other parties at Stormont have 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.
Crisis in Historical Context
Some commentators have called this the biggest crisis in the DUP's history. Wallace Thompson, a founding member, noted that the party's traditional emphasis on moral rectitude has 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, Thompson added.
BBC Spotlight 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. Former North Antrim MP Ian Paisley Jr told the programme that the woman did not want to make a formal complaint but that he relayed her claim to Edwin Poots, then DUP leader. Poots, now Stormont's speaker, told the programme: "We observed at all times the wishes of the young woman."
Paisley also told Spotlight that Donaldson was often drunk on overseas trips, including an occasion in New York when he tried to kiss a female DUP assembly member. "On a trade mission, on the other side of the world [he was] getting so blindingly drunk that he actually projectile vomited over the mayor of Beijing," said Paisley Jr.
Police Observations and Party Standards
Spotlight has reported that two senior police officers observed Donaldson entering a sauna in London that marketed itself as a meeting place for gay men in 2006, despite his denunciations of homosexuality as "sinful." Neither Donaldson nor his lawyers have responded to these claims.
Robinson said the DUP, which faces an assembly election next year, was not formally notified of the claims but that evidently some individual members had information they did not share. The review would establish if members still held information that they had not yet shared, he said. "It is my job to set our standards and what we have heard over the last number of days falls well below the standards that I hold and my colleagues hold for our party. It is our job to make sure we are not turning a blind eye."
