{"id":514833,"date":"2026-06-23T19:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/514833\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T19:24:10","slug":"remarkable-bravery-northern-irelands-politicians-praise-jeffrey-donaldsons-victims-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/514833\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Remarkable bravery\u2019: Northern Ireland\u2019s politicians praise Jeffrey Donaldson\u2019s victims \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Politicians in the Northern Assembly have expressed their support for the victims of sexual abuse following the conviction of Jeffrey Donaldson<\/a> for child sex offences.<\/p>\n

Representatives from both sides of the North\u2019s political divide united in their condemnation of the former DUP leader at the start of Assembly business on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

There have been multiple calls for him to be stripped of his knighthood, and the DUP and other parties have written to the UK cabinet office asking that the honour be removed. <\/p>\n

It is understood all cases are considered following the conclusion of all legal proceedings, and any recipient of a knighthood who is convicted of a sexual offence is automatically considered for forfeiture of their honour. <\/p>\n

The Orange Order, of which Donaldson was a long-standing member, said the membership of anyone found guilty of a serious sexual offence \u201cis terminated with immediate effect\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> also sent his thoughts to Donaldson\u2019s victims, saying \u201cour hearts go out\u201d to them and what they had gone through was \u201cabsolutely abhorrent, very difficult to comprehend\u201d.<\/p>\n

Describing Donaldson\u2019s crimes as \u201cevil\u201d, he said \u201cthat man lived a lie all his life and he did great evil and great damage and it is horrific and shocking\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UK government also praised the victims, saying in a statement \u201cour thoughts are first and foremost with the victims of Jeffrey Donaldson who have shown immense courage in coming forward and giving evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Jury took 10 hours to decide Jeffrey Donaldson was guilty, 10 minutes to deliver verdictOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It said claims by the Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister that it may have used knowledge of Donaldson\u2019s sex offending as \u201cleverage\u201d in a deal to restore the North\u2019s powersharing institutions in 2024 were \u201cdeeply distasteful and absolute nonsense\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Monday Donaldson (63) was convicted of 18 child sex offences<\/a>, including one count of rape, against two women when they were children. <\/p>\n

The former MP was remanded in custody and was warned he faces a \u201clengthy\u201d prison sentence when he is sentenced in September. <\/p>\n

He was also placed on the sex offenders register. <\/p>\n

Donaldson\u2019s conviction was raised by Sinn F\u00e9in Assembly member Emma Sheerin at the start of business at Stormont on Tuesday morning, with contributions permitted by the Speaker, Edwin Poots, as \u201ca matter of public importance\u201d. <\/p>\n

Sheerin praised the strength and dignity of Donaldson\u2019s victims and described their \u201cresilience\u201d throughout the trial as \u201cnothing short of admirable\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is above the law, and I hope all victims watching this unfold will take strength from that,\u201d she said. \u201cJustice in this case was hard fought for and so deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018The only person telling lies is you\u2019 \u2013 the full story of Jeffrey Donaldson\u2019s abuse trialOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen said it was \u201cnow clear beyond doubt that Jeffrey Donaldson led a double and duplicitous life\u201d, adding that his \u201clies and cover-ups have now been exposed\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said her party\u2019s thoughts were with the victims and \u201cwe pray this verdict brings comfort as they move forward with their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alliance Party MLA Kate Nicholl praised the \u201cextraordinary, remarkable bravery and courage\u201d of Donaldson\u2019s victims and said she hoped the verdict \u201csends a clear recognition that what happened was wrong, and that Jeffrey Donaldson will feel the full weight of the law\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jon Burrows, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said the victims \u201cgot justice and there is a powerful lesson in that for everyone in our country, right across these islands\u201d.<\/p>\n

The SDLP MLA Matthew O\u2019Toole said Donaldson \u201cstands not just shamed but convicted in the eyes of the law by a jury of his peers\u201d and said he stood with and acknowledged \u201cthe extraordinary courage and resilience of his victims\u201d. Additional reporting: PA <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Politicians in the Northern Assembly have expressed their support for the victims of sexual abuse following the conviction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14063,61,60,14062,1843,43,2443],"class_list":["post-514833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-dup-links","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jeffrey-donaldson","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}