DUP members did not share information about Donaldson conduct – Robinson

By Jonathan McCambridge and David Young, Press Association

Gavin Robinson has said “it is clear” there are former and current DUP members who had information about the conduct of Jeffrey Donaldson which was not shared with the party.

DUP leader Robinson has insisted the party was not made aware formally of any allegations about the former leader’s behaviour prior to his arrest in 2024.

There have been growing calls from Stormont parties for a review set up by the DUP in the wake of the conviction to provide full transparency over safeguarding issues.

Donaldson is in custody awaiting sentencing after being convicted last week of serious sexual offences against children.

A jury of seven men and five women at Newry Crown Court unanimously found the 63-year-old guilty of 18 sexual offences, including one count of rape, against two women when they were children.

Subsequent media reports have raised questions about how much was known within the DUP about Donaldson’s wider conduct in the period prior to his 2024 arrest over sex abuse allegations.

BBC Spotlight has reported that some senior DUP figures were aware of another woman, who was not involved in the recent court case, who had raised concerns about Donaldson’s behaviour but had not wished to make a formal complaint.

In the programme, former North Antrim MP Ian Paisley said the woman did not want to make a formal complaint but he said he told Edwin Poots, who was then leader and is now Stormont Speaker.

Questions have also been raised around whether there was an awareness that Donaldson was allegedly engaged in behaviour in his private life that, although legal, was at odds with positions he adopted publicly.

Spotlight has reported that two senior PSNI officers observed Donaldson entering a sauna in London that marketed itself as a meeting place for gay men in 2006 – despite the politician referring to homosexuality as “sinful” in the same year.

In a statement last week, the DUP announced a “specialised and detailed independent review into a number of issues arising” following Donaldson’s conviction.

As a party we were not aware of allegations that have subsequently come to light

Speaking to the media at Stormont on Monday, Robinson said: “As a party we were not aware of allegations that have subsequently come to light.

“I may only have been leader of this party for a short period of time, but I am convinced that that is the case for a longer period of time.”

He added: “It is clear there are a number of individuals, either former members of the Democratic Unionist Party, or current who did indicate publicly on Friday that they had information that they did not share, information that was not reported through our appropriate channels and therefore information about which we could do nothing formally.

“Whilst I say that with confidence, I am also clear it is not okay for that to continue to be the case.

“I cannot countenance a circumstance or situation where I allow that to be the case.

“That is why I and my deputy leader and senior party colleagues agreed on Friday to institute a review; a review that will be independent of our party, a review that will be conducted by an individual with impeccable credentials in child safeguarding, sexual exploitation.

“I want them to establish if members of my party had information which they did not share.

“I also want them to establish if there are people within my party who continue to hold information which they haven’t yet felt about to share.”

Robinson said he wanted the review to examine the party’s safeguarding policies.

But he added: “If somebody doesn’t come forward and whistleblow, you can’t use the safeguarding policies.

“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 and that we deal with the issues that we are in charge of.”

Robinson said he had not yet spoken to Poots about the issues raised in the Spotlight programme.

The Speaker has faced some calls to consider stepping aside while the DUP investigation is ongoing.

Sinn Féin tabled a debate in the Assembly on Monday in relation to the claims aired about Donaldson.

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill said there appeared to be a “culture of double standards” within the DUP as she called on the party to provide answers on who knew what about Donaldson’s conduct.

She also urged Poots to make clear what steps he took when he became aware a woman had come forward to claim she had been “exploited” by Donaldson.

“We want the DUP to be forthcoming with all this information,” she said.

“I think it’s really important that the Speaker steps forward and tells people very clearly what he knew. Did he fulfil his responsibilities in terms of safeguarding? I think at this moment in time there are still questions to be answered there. We will continue to ask those questions.”

O’Neill also referenced reporting that suggested Donaldson lived a double life when he was outside of Northern Ireland.

“I think since last week what we saw is a drip feed of who knew what, why, where, and who they told across the DUP, and it appears that there’s been a culture of double standards, that Jeffrey Donaldson lived a life that certainly was in direct contradiction to what he professed,” she said.

“The double standards are shocking. I think all this poses a lot more questions for the DUP in terms of who understood what was happening, who understood his character, who understood the life that he led, the double life that he appears to have led.”

Alliance Party leader and Stormont justice minister Naomi Long said those speaking out now to raise issues about Donaldson’s past conduct should have spoken up at the time.

“I have to say that those who are now taking this opportunity to settle old political scores, claiming that they saw things and said nothing, claiming that they knew things but did nothing, should be hanging their heads in shame,” she said.

“This is not a party political issue. This is an issue about protection of the vulnerable, and if they knew anything at the time, that was when to speak up.

“Otherwise, speaking up now just looks like vengeance.”

SDLP Stormont leader Matthew O’Toole said: “Clearly revelations over the past few days have prompted further questions which we need to answer here in the Northern Ireland Assembly

“We need to understand from the DUP whether safeguarding processes were properly followed following complaints to senior DUP members,” said the leader of the Opposition.

“We do need to hear the details of those complaints and how they were dealt with, to ensure they were dealt with properly.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said there was a “low level of confidence” in previous internal DUP reviews

He said: “A review can be of one of two types, it can be a stalling tactic such as we have seen in the past, self-serving and not revealing the truth.

“Or it can be thoroughgoing, hopefully unfettered and capable of delivering the truth.”