Since Donaldson’s guilty verdicts for numerous sex offences, including rape, against two women when they were children were announced last month, more allegations have surfaced about the disgraced former MP’s private life - especially the allegations aired in the hard-hitting BBC Spotlight documentary.
Donaldson was very well known, not just in Unionist political circles, but also in the Loyal Orders and especially in Christian Church circles. The DUP - a party he once led - has launched a supposedly rigorous investigation into ‘who knew what and when’ about the ex-leader’s private life.
In terms of the specific trial, the testimonies of the two women Donaldson abused when they were children - known as Complainant A and Complainant B - shocked many, many people. As even more post-verdict allegations emerged, hundreds of folk must have been asking the same questions - who was the real Jeffrey Donaldson; who got a hint of these allegations; and who allegedly kept quiet about them or turned a blind eye?
And it will not only be the DUP and the UUP who will have to face these questions. Donaldson also held rank within the Loyal Orders, especially the Orange. Did anyone within the Orders know of Donaldson’s secret persona?
And then there’s the Christian churches and places of worship. Again, like the probing questions which the DUP, UUP, and Loyal Orders will have to address, do any Christian folk who mixed with Donaldson on the preaching and testimony circuits have awkward questions to answer?
However, the bottom line still remains that everyone should keep the victims of Donaldson’s sexual crimes in their thoughts and prayers. Even if you don’t believe in God, you should still spare a thought for Complainants A and B - and any other alleged victims which may emerge in the coming days.
Many folk who knew Donaldson personally may be asking themselves - was there anything, any triggers, which they missed, which could have unmasked his vile behaviour earlier in life?
While we’ve already enjoyed the colour and pageantry of the 1st July Somme commemoration parades, affectionately known in many circles as the Mini Twelfth parades, will the Donaldson saga and the horrors of what Complainants A and B had to endure both as children and during the trial cast a dark shadow over the Twelfth commemorations?
When the Orangemen, Orange women, band members and the public reach the respective demonstration fields next week, will the talk still be about ‘who knew what’ concerning Donaldson, or will the expected heatwave lift spirits - even for a day.
Even more pointedly, given Donaldson’s once high profile in the Loyal Orders, will anyone dare to mention the issue in their demonstration speeches or comments? Or, at the Twelfth parades and the traditional Sham Fight at Scarva, will talk of Donaldson - privately or publicly - become like Voldemort from the Harry Potter series - the name that must never be spoken?
The judge at Donaldson’s trial after the jury gave their guilty verdicts said the former DUP boss could expect a lengthy jail term for his crimes. I wonder how many folk will now utter the prophetic words - “I always knew there was something fishy about Donaldson!”
Will these folks, especially those in politics, the Church and the Loyal Orders, be pondering over their various meetings with Donaldson to see if they could remember a hint about his private life?
Many will ask - did the mask of the good-living, born again Christian husband, well-polished politician ever slip ever so slightly in front of them even on just one wee occasion?
Does anyone in the political arena, Christian Churches and Loyal Orders feel any sense of guilt that they did not spot any hint of Donaldson’s private life and could have formally reported it?
Many, too, especially in Christian and Loyal Order circles, will feel a sense of embarrassment at the court convictions and post-trial allegations that every Christian and Orange Order member has become wrongly tarnished with the same brush.
Is it possible the Orange and Black parades in the coming days could give the Unionist community ‘a wee lift’, or is it a case that the demise of Donaldson has cast such a shadow over Orangeism and the Royal Black Institution that there’s a feeling - let’s just get this year’s Marching Season over and done with as soon as possible.
| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter John is a Director for Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. |






















