28 June 2026

The SDLP has said that the wave of revelations in the wake of Jeffrey Donaldson’s conviction have left the public shocked, disgusted and must mark a watershed moment in Northern Ireland politics. 

SDLP Leader Claire Hanna MP said:

“Above all we must remember that at the heart of this are two brave victims who spoke up in the most difficult of circumstances and brought this man to justice. People are now rightly asking how senior DUP figures spent decades telling other people how to live their lives, using political vetoes to stymie rights and safe, inclusive education, while failing to practice the very virtues they themselves preached.  

“Media reporting of widespread knowledge of Donaldson’s private life exposes nauseating hypocrisy and a prioritising of electoral advantage over safeguarding and accountability. This raises profound questions about the motivations behind decisions that delayed reforms which could have made a real difference to people’s lives.

“For decades voters have been fed a diet of division and fear by politicians who have demonstrated time and time again that they are not doing what’s right for ordinary people, with a track record including RHI, Red Sky and Brexit. 

“The implication by the TUV that the DUP did a deal over the Brexit protocol because of blackmail is further self-serving spin, feasting off the carcass and is a refusal to engage with facts, make a positive case for the union or give hope to the people they claim to represent. The DUP returned to Stormont because it had nowhere else to go and because voters, businesses and governments know that the extreme Brexit ideology espoused by hardline unionism refuses to acknowledge the reality of life across these islands. 

"People deserve better than a politics built on division, fear and culture wars. All voters deserve leadership that prioritises integrity, accountability and the public interest above party advantage. The SDLP is determined to change politics that allows people like Jeffrey Donaldson to evade justice for so long, while pontificating from on high about how others should live their lives. That includes driving forward reforms that have been thwarted including healthy relationship education, press freedom and democratic process in Stormont.”