The prosecution and conviction of Jeffrey Donaldson for the sexual abuse of children triggered shock waves in Northern Ireland and the tremors are still being felt.Four inquiries are being conducted in the wake of Donaldson’s conviction. The ground is shakiest under the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which the former MP led until his arrest in March 2024. Now in Maghaberry prison outside Belfast and awaiting sentencing for 18 child sex offences, including rape, Donaldson was one of the best-known – and longest-serving – politicians in Northern Ireland. Yet in a career of almost 40 years, from 1985 to 2024, his offending spanned more than 20. It is little wonder that the political fallout so far has been significant and shows no signs of going away. Donaldson’s presence, and influence, ran not just through the political establishment in London as well as Belfast, but through the heart of unionism in Northern Ireland. His many and varied roles included being a member of the Stormont Assembly as well as an MP at Westminster. He was a junior minister in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister at Stormont, a lifelong member of the Orange Order and, at the time of his arrest, a member of the Privy Council, UK trade envoy to Egypt and Cameroon and a knight of the realm.Donaldson has also represented two political parties, each in their day the largest in unionism. Though a member of the DUP for more than 20 years, until 2003 he represented the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). On Monday the UUP unveiled an “independent confidential process” to allow “anyone with information or concerns relating to Donaldson’s time in the party to come forward”. The DUP is also carrying out its own investigation; it announced earlier this month an “independent focused safeguarding review”, led by the child safeguarding expert Jim Gamble. The aim of the review is “to establish what, if any, information was known within the party about his conduct, to examine its safeguarding and reporting arrangements, and to make recommendations to ensure good practice”, the DUP said.[ DUP may be destroyed by Jeffrey Donaldson scandalOpens in new window ]An Assembly review is under way into any incidents of abuse or inappropriate behaviour while Donaldson was an MLA from 2003 to 2010, or while he was a visitor to Stormont’s Parliament Buildings as an MP.The Northern Ireland Civil Service is to carry out a “scoping exercise” into Donaldson’s behaviour while junior minister in 2008-2009. From the moment the news broke of his arrest, the DUP and UUP distanced themselves from Donaldson and his offending. The UUP said it had undertaken a “rapid review” in the wake of Donaldson’s conviction and found “no complaint or concern about Donaldson, whether formal or informal, was ever raised” with the UUP while Donaldson was a member, and it has not been contacted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).Likewise, the DUP said when it announced its inquiry that it had “acted immediately” when Donaldson was first charged. Donaldson stood down as leader and his party membership was suspended. “The DUP never received any report or complaint regarding improper behaviour or criminal behaviour,” the party said. [ Was Jeffrey Donaldson blackmailed by the British government?Opens in new window ]Yet this has not stemmed the questions for the DUP, with leader Gavin Robinson forced to acknowledge that “it is clear” some current and former senior party figures did have information that Donaldson was not the teetotal Christian and family man he claimed to be. Since Donaldson’s conviction multiple stories have emerged, involving moments of drunkenness, a visit to a gay sauna and his affairs with women. There have also been claims, reported by the Belfast Telegraph, that Donaldson sexually assaulted a woman in a DUP office in Westminster in 2016, while another woman allegedly told former DUP MP Ian Paisley five years ago that she was a “victim” who had been “exploited” by Donaldson. Paisley reported this to party colleague Edwin Poots, the current Stormont Speaker, who said “nothing of a criminal or safeguarding nature” was raised and that the allegation was that “Donaldson behaved inappropriately”. Paisley told The Irish Times he would elaborate on the issue to the DUP’s inquiry. For the DUP – and the UUP – the hope is their public statements will be vindicated by their inquiry’s findings and they will be able to draw a line under the scandal and move on. With an Assembly election due in May, this is particularly pressing. So far, only two of the four inquiries have committed to a timescale; the Assembly review is to conclude by the end of August and Gamble’s inquiry is expected to take four to six months, so Donaldson and the fallout from his conviction will be fresh in the minds of voters when they go to the polls next year. Add to that a few other dates: Donaldson’s sentencing, due in September, and his appeal against his convictions, both of which will help keep his conviction in the public eye and to the fore in an election campaign. This has become a scandal that will not go away for the DUP. It must hope that, when the inquiries report their conclusions, there is nothing further to be revealed.