Donaldson told alleged victim he would 'pray' for her and ask forgiveness for 'hurt and pain' caused, court hears
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, May 29th, 2026
ALLEGED VICTIM TELLS TRIAL SHE WAS SEXUALLY ABUSED BY ANOTHER MAN WHEN SHE WAS CHILD
Jeffrey Donaldson sent a letter to a woman he is accused of abusing when she was a child asking for her forgiveness “for the hurt and pain I have caused”, a court has heard.
The letter from the former DUP leader to the woman, known as Witness A, was read during the second day of evidence at the trial at Newry Crown Court.
The woman told the court that she had thought the letter was an attempt by Donaldson “to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred”.
Later, under cross-examination by Donaldson's barrister, the woman said she had been sexually abused by another man when she was a child.
Jeffrey Donaldson (63) has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences dating from 1985 to 2008.
In the letter, Donaldson said: “It is my hope, that in time, you will find it in your heart to forgive me”.
The letter, written in June 2020, was read to the court by Rosemary Walsh KC, on behalf of the prosecution.
Mr Donaldson's letter referred to “sinful and selfish actions” and said he was “seeking God's forgiveness” adding that he wanted to “take full responsibility for all I have done”.
The letter continued: “I have seen myself what amazing grace can do to lift a sinner from a pit of sin,” adding that he was “a product of a sinful nature”.
“Seeking God's forgiveness is not enough in itself”, the letter continued. He said he must be “obedient to God's way and follow God's path”.
“My hope and prayer is that God will help each of us. I pray especially for you … I believe God has great plans for you.”
It added: “It is my hope that in time you will find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Witness A told the court that she took the letter to be about the allegations of abuse.
Trying to apologise
“I think he was trying to apologise for perhaps the abuse that had occurred but he didn't want to say that formally in writing,” she added.
Donaldson was again met by his solicitor John McBurney as he arrived at court yesterday morning.
He was dressed in a dark grey suit and green tie.
Donaldson sat in the court with two female custody sergeants on either side as the first of the witness evidence was played to the jury.
His wife Eleanor Donaldson, who is charged with aiding and abetting, was not in court.
She is facing a trial of the facts, after the trial judge Paul Ramsey ruled that she was medically unfit to stand trial.
The trial of the facts will test the evidence in the case, but cannot result in a criminal conviction.
It is being heard by the same jury, with proceedings against both Donaldsons running simultaneously as part of one overall trial process presided over by Judge Ramsey.
There are two female complainants, Witness A and Witness B.
ABE interview
The first Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) interview, recorded on March 8, 2024 with Witness A and just over an hour in length, was shown.
Witness A recounted two main alleged incidents.
During one incident, she alleged Jeffrey Donaldson was standing over her and she had no underwear on.
She told detectives she wasn't sure if he had taken pictures at the time.
On another occasion she said Jeffrey Donaldson kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth and moved it around, before laughing it off as a joke when she “recoiled”. The witness described how she “felt very dirty”. Witness A said that when she was in her 20s she realised “that was not normal and I became very angry”.
She said she had “spent her life watching him in a public role, getting accolade after accolade”. Following a short break a second ABE recording with Witness A was shown to the jury. The shorter police interview, lasting around 20 minutes, discussed allegations of inappropriate touching.
Witness A claimed that on one occasion Jeffrey Donaldson put a hand up her blouse and sports bra and was “rubbing her breast area”.
She said this lasted for around five minutes and Jeffrey Donaldson was quiet throughout. She told detectives that the inappropriate touching became “a very casual thing”.
Referring to the alleged abuse, She said that she “never said a word about it” until she told her husband.
After lunch Witness A was questioned by Donaldson's barrister Kieran Vaughan KC. The witness was questioned about medical notes from counselling sessions that Witness A engaged in as an adult that stated her memories from childhood were “very poor, really bad”.
“I struggle with my memory, but I would not use the words really bad myself,” she said.
Another man
Mr Vaughan then asked about notes where the witness spoke of being sexually abused by another man when she was around seven years old.
Asked why she didn't tell this to police during her ABE interview, or in the two years since, she said that sexual abuse was “a complex thing”.
Asked why she didn't mention this event during a meeting with Witness B, the other complainant in the case prior to going to police to make an ABE statement, she said: “At that point we were dealing with enough”.
During a counselling session with a second Christian counsellor, Witness A wrote in a questionnaire that this other man “was inappropriate with me as a child” but did not mention the allegation made against Jeffrey Donaldson.
Mr Vaughan asked: “Why in that context do you not say anything about what you have told this jury?”
Witness A replied that she was “not ready for that to happen”.
Mr Vaughan pointed out in her police interview about the alleged Donaldson abuse that she had said events were “very unclear” and that she had used the words 'I think' about what she claimed had happened.
Complainant A said she had “great clarity” about some events while others were “foggy”.
He said: “All these incidents happened in your childhood. Your memory of those incidents are unclear?”
She said: “The incidents themselves — I remember significant detail, due to the nature of what happened.”
He said: “I am suggesting to you that things were quite foggy in your mind about these events.”
She replied: “I do not agree with that.”
The barrister suggested that she may either have “fabricated” the abuse or else “dreamt it and over the years come to believe it is true”. She said: “To imply someone would dream things without a reason is ridiculous, it is insulting.”
The trial continues today.
Jeffrey Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024. He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.
Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the power-sharing institutions.
Donaldson’s letter of ‘regret for all the pain and distress’
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
JEFFREY Donaldson wrote a letter to a woman who has accused him of sexually abusing her as a child expressing “regret” for “all the hurt, pain and distress I have caused”, his trial has heard.
The woman told the court that she had thought the letter was an attempt by the former DUP leader “to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred”.
Under cross-examination by Donaldson’s barrister, the woman later told the trial that she had been sexually abused by another man when she was a child. Donaldson, 63, is on trial at Newry Crown Court accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault.
The ex-MP has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences.
The charges span a time period between 1985 and 2008 involving two alleged victims.
Donaldson’s wife, Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending.
She is facing a trial of the facts after Judge Paul Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds. That will test the evidence in the case, but cannot result in a criminal conviction.
The first witness in the trial, known as Complainant A, was asked questions by prosecuting barrister Rosemary Walsh KC yesterday.
The complainant was not in the courtroom, but appeared via a videolink. Ms Walsh read out a letter which Complainant A said had been written to her by Jeffrey Donaldson in June 2020.
In the letter, Donaldson expressed “how much I truly regret all the hurt, pain and distress I have caused”.
It added: “I wish I could find the right words to adequately express just how sorry I am for all of this… I take full responsibility for it all.”
It also said he had sought help and forgiveness from God.
A sinner
The jury heard he described himself in the letter as a “sinner” and had failed to address his “sinful nature for far too many years”.
The letter continued: “I will regret this to my dying day.”
It added: “I understand how deep the wounds are caused by my sinful and selfish actions.”
The letter described a “dark situation”.
Ms Walsh asked Complainant A what she believed the letter to be about.
She replied: “I felt he was trying to apologise for perhaps the abuse which had occurred, but he didn’t want to say that formally in writing.
“It felt like an apology letter and it felt like it was written with a lot of guilt.”
Evidence in the trial began earlier yesterday with the video of a police interview with Complainant A from March 2024, weeks before the Donaldsons were arrested, being played to the jury of seven men and five women.
Donaldson, wearing a dark grey suit, sat in the dock between two court staff as the video was played.
In the interview, the complainant said she had been of primary school age when Donaldson was “physical” with her.
She recalled waking up in the middle of the night on several occasions with a sexual feeling.
She said she later started to have nightmares about “adult men doing horrible things to children”.
She said from primary school age, Donaldson had put his hand up her top – and this “happened for quite a while”.
In her interview, she said Donaldson made comments about the size of her breasts as she got older.
She said she remembered a “significant event” when she was a young teenager when Donaldson “perched” over the top of her, holding a light and had looked at her “private parts”.
She said: “I couldn’t move initially because I didn’t know what had happened.”
She said on another occasion Donaldson kissed her and put his tongue in her mouth.
‘Laughed off’
She said this and similar incidents were “very much laughed off as a joke”.
Complainant A said when she was in her 20s, she understood that the behaviour she claimed had taken place was “not normal”. She said: “I became very angry.” She said she had “watched him in a public role, getting accolade after accolade”.
In the interview, she was asked by a police officer about her earliest memory of waking up in the middle of the night.
She said: “I felt very dirty for a long time.”
She added: “It feels black, there is darkness around it, it is black in my head.”
After lunch Complainant A was questioned by Donaldson’s barrister Kieran Vaughan KC.
The barrister asked her about an incident when she was sexually abused by another man when she was of primary school age.
She said: “That is correct. To my knowledge it was one incident.”
Asked why she had not told police about this alleged abuse when she had reported alleged abuse by Donaldson, she said she saw it as the “lesser of two evils”.
Mr Vaughan pointed out in her police interview about the alleged Donaldson abuse that she had said events were “very unclear” and that she had used the words ‘I think’ about what she claimed had happened.
Complainant A said she had “great clarity” about some events while others were “foggy”.
Memory
He said: “All these incidents happened in your childhood. Your memory of those incidents are unclear?”
She said: “The incidents themselves I remember significant detail, due to the nature of what happened.”
He said: “I am suggesting to you that things were quite foggy in your mind about these events.”
She replied: “I do not agree with that.”
The barrister suggested that she may either have “fabricated” the abuse or else “dreamt it and over the years come to believe it is true”.
She said: “To imply someone would dream things without a reason is ridiculous, it is insulting.”
The trial, which is expected to last between three and four weeks, continues today.
Jeffrey Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024.
He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.
Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the power sharing institutions.
Donaldson watches as woman who accused him of sexual abuse gives evidence via live stream
Irish News, May 29th, 2026
APPEARING on a live stream on screens inside Newry Crown Court’s courtroom one, the first of two complainants accusing former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson of various sexual offences began giving evidence early on day three.
It marked the first evidence to be heard in the proceedings – coming more than two years after the 63-year-old was first arrested.
Donaldson, who has pleaded not guilty to all 18 charges against him, yesterday appeared in a dark grey suit and was once again present in the dock. His wife, as is now established, was not in court, and will not be throughout the trial.
She faces a ‘trial of the facts’ for five charges of aiding and abetting relating to some of her husband’s alleged offences – which she has denied – and cannot be found guilty.
On day three, in keeping with the milder conditions outside – a cool breeze and cloudier skies – the temperature inside the court was less oppressive than the previous sitting.
Two standing fans in the room put up a much stronger fight against the sweltering heat than they had done the day before.
That might have also been in part down to the fact that a technician had been working on improving conditions in the room from 7.30am, as Judge Paul Ramsey informed the jury on their arrival.
They should, he said, hopefully find the conditions more bearable. Court business got off to a quicker start on day three.
Shortly after the jury was brought in, Complainant A, one of two women who say they were the victims of sexual offences allegedly carried out by Jeffrey Donaldson, appeared on a screen behind the judge’s head.
The noise of a bell on the court computer signified a connection between the camera system in court and that of the witness.
Donaldson, sat in the dock at the back of the room, looked straight ahead at the screen, while the jurors’ eyes were fixed on their own individual displays – where Complainant A was also being shown.
Pre-recorded interview feed
After being sworn in, the feed cut to a pre-recorded interview conducted by police. In the corner of a white room with blue carpet, a dark leather chair appeared in focus.
A police detective sat down and addressed the camera before leaving view and being replaced by another detective.
This police officer then switched places with a third individual, complainant A, who was now the only person in view.
And so began the first part of yesterday’s proceedings – the ABE, or ‘achieving best evidence’.
The footage being shown on screen was evidently not live.
The jury were aware of this, having been told in advance that the interview was pre-recorded. A timestamp at the bottom of the screen, dated March 2024, also made this clear.
The voice of the detective could be heard off screen, asking the complainant to respond, “in as much detail” as possible, and to tell him “everything”.
Over the next approximately 17 minutes, the complainant described a number of incidents which she says happened to her as a child.
From then, she responded to questions from the detective for around another 40 minutes before the clip ended.
Following a short break for the jury, a second part of the interview, this clip much shorter at just 20 minutes, was played to the court.
Jeffrey Donaldson, who watched from the dock, could be seen at times taking notes – as he has done on first two days of the trial.
And this continued at moments throughout the day, with complainant A then responding to questions from prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh KC, and later in the afternoon, Kieran Vaughan KC, the barrister defending Jeffrey Donaldson.
It is the defence’s case that the offences which Jeffrey Donaldson is accused of did not happen, and this was pointed out during the cross-examination of the witness, which lasted for around two hours yesterday afternoon.
This cross-examination will resume this morning, with further questioning from the prosecution also expected.
As the first full day of proceedings drew to a close just before 4.20pm, the judge told the jury that it had been “a long day” during which “a lot of ground” had been covered.
They go into today, the last day of the first week in the long-awaited trial, with more evidence to be heard.
Patsy McGlone to stand down from politics
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
THE SDLP’s longest serving Assembly member has said he will stand down at next year’s elections.
Former Deputy Speaker Patsy McGlone confirmed he will retire from politics when the north goes to the polls next year.
The 66-year-old, who is also an ex-Deputy Leader of the SDLP, has represented Mid-Ulster at the Assembly since 2003, after clinching his seat from party colleague Denis Haughey.
Since then, he has held off a rising swell of support for Sinn Féin in the mainly rural constituency to retain the seat at six successive elections.
‘You just want to make sure you served the people that came to you for help as best you humanly could’
SDLP’s longest serving Assembly member Patsy McGlone reveals he will stand down at next year’s elections
Brought up in the parish of Newbridge, near Magherafelt, Mr McGlone has established a strong support base stretching from his native south Derry into parts of Co Tyrone, along Lough Neagh’s western shoreline.
The veteran politician describes himself as “transfer friendly” and is known to attract a large personal vote from both a traditional republican and unionist electorate.
He currently lives in Ballinderry, which straddles the Derry/Tyrone divide, with his wife Geraldine, who is originally from Ardboe.
From a well-known business family, his late father, John, played Gaelic football for Derry in the 1950s.
And it was through Newbridge and Derry GAA legend Roddy Gribbin, and a neighbour, Henry Walls, that he joined the SDLP in 1983.
Over the next four decades, Mr McGlone held several senior roles and is one of the last public links between the modern party and the Hume/Mallon era.
Holding the post of party general secretary from 1986 to 1992, he later served as Deputy Leader in 2010-2011.
Mr McGlone also sat on the old Cookstown District Council between 1993 and 2009, and was chairman over two separate terms.
In 2016 he was appointed as Deputy Speaker at the Assembly, a high-profile role held until 2024.
Loyalist death threats
During his career he was told by police he was under loyalist death threat on three different occasions.
In 2011 his canvassers were targeted by petrol bombers in the mainly loyalist village of Coagh, in Co Tyrone, after SDLP election posters had been removed.
Mr McGlone said that after being involved in elected politics for ‘half his life’ he has decided the time has come to pull the curtain down.
“There’s a time for just stepping aside, to go on with other things in your life and allow someone else to take over….somebody else the chance,” he said.
“Just being honest about the thing, sometimes some people go on too long.
“You just want to make sure that you served the people that came to you for help as best you humanly could.”
A press advisor to former SDLP leader John Hume while he served as an MEP, Mr McGlone was also involved in the Hume-Adams talks, which helped pave the way for the emerging peace process.
He described this time as a memorable period of his career.
“A high point was being there whenever John was involved in the peace talks to bring the Provisionals in and to bring their campaign of violence to an end, that was historic,” he said.
“All of my life up until that point, with the exception of being a young child, I had just seen violence on our streets that ultimately wasn’t going anywhere, other than filling the graveyards and bringing about an awful lot of hurt for families.
“To see that coming to an end was a huge, huge historic achievement, and to be there to witness that and see things progress…I still feel very privileged to have been there,” he added.
While not part of the direct negotiating team, Mr McGlone was also present during the Good Friday Agreement talks.
He reveals that one of his “regrets” was failing to keep handwritten joint statements, penned by Mr Hume, during the Hume-Adams talks due to the historic value they would now have.
The politician revealed he has also endured some low points in his long career, including when his wife
Geraldine was diagnosed with Preeclampsia in 1998 – a dangerous condition suffered by pregnant women.
“I was standing for election, and we lost a baby in the middle of the election campaign,” he said.
“Geraldine was at the Royal Hospital under the care of Professor Dornan, Jamie Dornan’s father.
“She was critically ill with Preeclampsia, it’s an awful thing.
“Literally, her life was very much at risk and we lost the child.”
Prioroties
Mr McGlone explained that the medical emergency arose two weeks before the election.
“Obviously, I didn’t get elected but that wasn’t my priority,” he said.
“I had to just drop everything and go down to the Royal Victoria Hospital, no campaigning or anything done for a full fortnight.
“You had to be there, you had to get your priorities right.
“That was a very, very difficult time, and my heart goes out to anyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances.”
A fluent Irish speaker, Mr McGlone recently returned to his former primary school, St Trea’s Ballymaguigan, to promote Scoil Spreagtha, a Gael Linn supported scheme to encourage the use of Irish.
He has also been involved in talks about an Irish Language Act and the appointment of language commissioners.
“That’s very important to me, because that’s an integral part of our national identity and it’s one of the key elements of the expression of our Irish identity,” he said.
The long-standing SDLP man said he also remains “dedicated to a united Ireland”.
“I want to see that achieved by building trust with people and moving us to that stage where people can live peacefully and respectfully with one another in a new Ireland,” he said.
“But, in the meantime, we want to make sure that what I am doing on a one-to-one basis with people is helping them in their daily lives as well,” he added.
The loss of the seasoned campaigner presents a challenge to SDLP party leaders, who will now have to carefully consider who will be his successor.
Residents of 'quiet and peaceful' village shocked by pipe bomb attack on house
JESSICA RICE, Belfast Telegraph, May 29th, 2026
A Co Antrim community has been left “shocked and uneasy” after a pipe bomb explosion.
The device was left on the ledge of the living room window of a house at Rectory Gardens in Broughshane at around 11pm on Wednesday by two men dressed in dark clothes.
They left in a dark-coloured hatchback that drove in the direction of Ballymena.
Three people in the house escaped injury.
There has been widespread condemnation of the bombing.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said: “Those responsible for this attack displayed a reckless disregard for life and the safety of everyone in the area.” Ulster Unionist leader Jon Burrows MLA and local UUP Councillor Alan Barr called it “a reprehensible act”.
“Broughshane is a quiet, welcoming village, and its people want nothing to do with such criminality,” they said.
“The device, placed beneath a living room window, endangered not only those inside the property but also any members of the public who may have been passing by.
“We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms, and we urge anyone with information to come forward to the PSNI.”
The Belfast Telegraph talked to a number of people in and around Broughshane, all of whom preferred to remain anonymous.
One young woman who grew up in the area said it “always felt safe”.
A quiet place
“Nothing ever really happens, you would never see police here, and if they were here, everyone would be talking about it, it would be big news,” she said.
“I've always felt safe, it's always been a very quiet and peaceful place.” Another local woman said: “I saw it on the news and I just kept re-reading again and again. I couldn't believe that it had happened here.”
A man from the village said: “I'd say we are all just a bit shocked and uneasy.
“It's not really the place you would expect anything like that to happen.”
A woman who lives close to where the blast occurred was awakened by the noise.
“I suppose when it first went off I was scared, but I calmed down quite quickly,” she explained.
“Things like that don't happen round here, so I didn't really think it was anything that serious. I saw this morning (it was a bomb), and I couldn't really believe it.
“It's awful to think of something like that happening to your neighbours.”
Another man told the Belfast Telegraph: “There's farms around us, and so I just assumed it was some of the equipment or machinery or something that had happened with it.
“It wasn't until today that I realised what it really was.”
And a local shop worker said: “It's a nice, welcoming area. For the most part, it's a place where people would know each other. I'd speak away to most people and they would speak to me.
“I can't even really think of any anti-social behaviour that's happened around here, never mind something as serious as a pipe bomb.”
The PSNI said: “An investigation is under way and we would ask anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area, particularly anyone who may have CCTV, doorbell or dash-cam footage which could assist, to contact us.”
Fewer school leavers from NI heading to universities
MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, May 29th, 2026
Fewer Northern Ireland school leavers are now heading to university, official statistics show.
And the so-called 'brain drain' which has seen growing numbers of students leaving Northern Ireland to study in other parts of the UK is slowing, with more now opting to continue their education at home.
The number of students heading to university has fallen despite the latest Department of Education figures showing that more young people here left school with at least three A-levels (grades A*-C) than the year before.
The proportion of school leavers achieving three or more A-levels was 39.2pc in 2024/25 — up 0.7pc from 2023/24 (38.5pc) though the figure is still well below what it was six years ago (1.8pc lower than the 41pc of 2018/19).
In total, 40.2pc of pupils leaving school in 2024/25 reported as continuing to Institutions of Higher Education (compared to 40.3pc in the previous year).
The number going into employment directly from school has also fallen (from 11.3pc last year to 10.6pc) with the number going into training is down from 13.6pc to 12.7pc.
There was a rise in students leaving school and going directly to unemployment, up to 2.5pc from 2.4pc, while the biggest rise saw a move towards further education colleges, with 32pc now opting for that route compared to 30.8pc a year before.
It comes despite warnings from university heads that the Stormont government needs to lift the cap on the number of students from Northern Ireland universities here are allowed to admit to courses.
Over two thirds of grammar school pupils who left in 2024/25 now attend university (67.1pc) while just 21.5pc of pupils from non-grammars went on to higher education.
Some 78.3pc of those attending university are now furthering their education in Northern Ireland — up from 75.6pc the previous year. Consequently, the number heading off to university in other parts of the UK has fallen, down from 22.2pc in 2023/24 to 20.2pc in 2024/25. Some 75pc of Catholics stay at home universities, compared to 84.1pc of Protestants. Almost a quarter (23.8pc) of Protestants attend universities outside Northern Ireland, compared to just 14.4pc of Catholics.
Overall, at 47.9pc, the proportion of females reported as continuing to Institutions of Higher Education was higher than that for males (32.9pc).
And when a pupil's religion was considered, 37.2pc of Protestant school leavers reported as continuing to university compared with 43.4pc of Catholic school leavers.
There also remains a substantial difference in the destination of pupils who qualified for free school meals and those who didn't.
Only 20.1pc of free school meal qualifying students head to university (compared to 45.5pc of those who don't) while they are more than twice as likely to end up in unemployment (4.4pc compared to 2.0pc). The majority of free school meal students head to further education colleges (41pc).
Looking over the longer term, the proportion of school leavers continuing to university has decreased by 1.8pc over the last six years, from 42.0pc in 2018/19 to 40.2pc in 2024/25. The proportion reported as continuing to Further Education also decreased, though less dramatically, from 32.9pc in 2018/19 to 32.0pc in 2024/25.
The percentage of pupils leaving school with qualifications at both GCSE and A-level has started to show signs of improvement after several years of decline.
At GCSE the percentage of school leavers achieving at least five GCSEs at A*-C including GCSE English and maths peaked at 78.0pc in 2020/21 but returned to pre-Covid levels at 71.5pc in 2023/24. That figure rose slightly to 71.9pc in 2024/25.
Likewise, there has been a rise in the number leaving school with at least three A-levels (grades A*-C) now standing at 39.2pc, up from 38.5pc a year before, though still behind the 2018/19 figure of 41.0pc.
The statistics also break down the destination of school leavers by area, with those living in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area the most likely to attend university (47.2pc).
Sinn Féin set to dominate main positions on council for first time
TANYA FOWLES, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
SINN Féin look set to dominate all positions of responsibility on a Northern Ireland council.
For the first time since the creation of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council in 2015, Sinn Féin will hold all official positions including Chair, Vice Chair and all statutory committee Chairs.
The outgoing Chair, Councillor Barry McElduff of Sinn Féin, will hand over the chain of office to a party colleague on Monday at the annual general meeting.
Current Vice-Chair, Councillor Shirley Hawkes, Democratic Unionist, will also hand over to a Sinn Féin member.
Along with this the council’s four statutory committees will also be chaired by Sinn Féin.
Three of these Policy and Resources Committee, Environmental Services Committee, and Regeneration and Community Committee will have 17 members, while the Planning Committee will have 13 members.
There will also be appointments of Chairs, Vice Chairs and members of the council subcommittees including Rural Affairs, Health and Social Care and others such Advisory/Liaison Groups and Working Groups, although the party designation for these is unknown at this time.
Councillors will also be nominated to external authorities including the A5/N2 Cross Border Committee, Culmore O’Kane Residents Association, Dromore Community Association, Enniskillen Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership, Omagh Neighbourhood Renewal Partnership Fermanagh and Omagh Peace Plus Partnership, Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism, NI Local Government Association, Policing and Community Safety Partnership, Sperrins Partnership Project and Strule Shared Education Campus Community Stakeholder Engagement.
With the annual general meeting now just a few days away – on June 1 – there as yet there are no soundings on who may take the top table positions of Chair and Vice Chair for the upcoming 2026/27 year which will be the last before the local government elections next year.
First Irish-speaking female Lord Mayor of Belfast excited to begin role
OLIVIA MCATEER, Belfast Telegraph, May 29th, 2026
Sinn Féin councillor Róis-Máire Donnelly will take office for the 2026-27 term.
The next Lord Mayor of Belfast has said she is “very excited” to start the role — even if it means delaying preparations for her wedding.
A fluent Irish speaker who is passionate about women's rights, the 30-year-old Ballymurphy native represents a younger generation within Sinn Féin and has a strong background in grassroots community work.
Ms Donnelly attended St Dominic's Grammar School and later graduated from Queen's University Belfast, where she gained a BSc in psychology.
She is currently an operations manager at Active Communities Network, a youth and community development organisation that uses sport and activities to work with disadvantaged communities.
It was through this work that Ms Donnelly discovered her passion for grassroots activism, volunteering with Integrated Services for Children and Young People in the Upper Springfield alongside youth charity Active Communities Network and local sporting group Cumann Spóirt an Phobail.
She has also shown a dedicated passion in supporting and representing individuals with mental ill health, learning disabilities, autism and dementia.
After three and a half years representing Sinn Féin in the Black Mountain ward, Ms Donnelly is preparing to take on her biggest role yet.
Speaking to the Andersonstown News at Belfast City Hall, she described her excitement at becoming Belfast's First Citizen. “During my time as a councillor I have learnt that no two days are the same and the skills I have learnt will be transferable into this role,” she explained.
“I found out [I would be mayor] a few weeks ago and had to keep it quiet. I am very excited for the opportunity, but I know it is a big responsibility.
“I am nervous as well, because I just want to do a really good job of representing my area and the city as a whole.”
In an interview with the BBC, she explained that she will be taking a brief career break and delaying preparations for her upcoming wedding to focus on her mayoral duties.
“I want to do this properly. I want to get out; I want to meet as many people as possible,” she said.
Ms Donnelly also emphasised her belief in the importance of the Irish language, and rejected claims that Sinn Féin politicises the use of the language.
‘Not political to me’
She said: “It's not political to me when I get up in the [council] chamber and speak Irish. I speak Irish for the young people out there who don't see people like them in these types of positions.
“To me, the language is positive, and it's making a positive contribution to society.”
She said she understood that there is “always going to be people that are opposed to the language” and that she will not “win everyone over”.
“But I want to be able to show that there's vibrancy and there's positivity that comes along with the language and the contribution that it makes. I have a full term to do that and I want to work with people,” she concluded.
Ms Donnelly expressed her excitement at taking up the position in time for the upcoming Fleadh Cheoil na hÉrieann, the world's biggest celebration of Irish music, song, language and dance, which is coming to Belfast this summer.
On Facebook, she said she was “proud and honoured” to have been asked to serve as Lord Mayor.
She added: “During my term in office, I will shine a light on the positive work being done by our young people, the struggles facing workers and families because of the cost-of-living crisis, the vibrancy of the Irish language, and the epidemic of violence against women and girls.
“Positive change is underway across Belfast, and we have a huge year ahead — not least welcoming Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann to the city for the first time.”
Ms Donnelly also emphasised her sense of achievement and pride as she is the first female Gaeilgeoir to take on the position of Belfast City Council Lord Mayor.
“As the first person from the Upper Springfield area to become Ard-Mhéara, a proud Ballymurphy woman, and the first female Gaeilgeoir to hold the role, I look forward to meeting communities from every part of Belfast.
The born-and-bred Ballymurphy councillor will begin her term on Monday, with her first official engagement taking place the following day.
Shameful figures demand action on racism in society
Pro Fide et Patria, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
THERE will be widespread agreement with the evidence given to Stormont’s Executive Office scrutiny committee indicating that there is an underestimation and even a denial in some quarters of the full extent of racism in our society.
If anyone was in doubt about the gravity of the issue, they can hardly ignore the latest PSNI re-port which indicated that 2025 saw the highest number of racist incidents in our region since records began in 2004.
There were particularly appalling outbreaks of violence in Ballymena, Co Antrim, and elsewhere last summer, but they were only part of a wider pattern which saw 2,048 racist incidents and 1,280 race hate crimes recorded in the course of the year.
“ There will be widespread agreement with the evidence given to Stormont’s Executive Office scrutiny committee indicating that there is an underestimation and even a denial in some quarters of the full extent of racism
In all the circumstances, it would be difficult to argue that what is officially known as Stormont’s Draft Framework Race Relations and Delivery Plan 2026-2028 represents an appropriate response to what is plainly a growing crisis.
Fidelma Fearon of Minority and Ethnic Support in Armagh, who addressed the scrutiny committee on Wednesday, was fully entitled to insist that the overall scale of the problem had yet to be properly recognised by the authorities.
She pointed out that, while the framework focused on relationship building, minority ethnic communities had already experienced racism, exclusion, intimidation and systematic inequality over many years.
Ms Fearon said that the initiative had “broad and insufficiently defined” outcomes, as well as an absence of clear targets, and highlighted what she regarded as the continued absence of modern and robust race equality and hate crime legislation.
These were trenchant criticisms which deserve to be fully taken on board by MLAs as they consider the best way to support vulnerable individuals who in many cases are living in fear of further attacks.
Unfortunately, the equivocal public statements of some unionist politicians both last summer and since did not suggest a full commitment to protecting members of minority groups from racist intimidation and assaults.
It is entirely reasonable to have a comprehensive debate on matters linked to immigration, but it essential that contributors separate the claims put forward by extremist voices from the basic facts.
The most recent available figures show that net migration in Northern Ireland is actually falling, and, according to the last census, taken in 2021, just six per cent of those living here were born outside of the UK and Ireland, one of the lowest comparable figures in Europe.
It is shameful that minority ethnic communities have been so regularly targeted by malicious elements and it is surely not too much to expect that all the main Stormont parties should play an active part in finding appropriate solutions.
Police investigate religious ceremony involving ‘large ceremonial knives’
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
POLICE have said enquiries are ongoing after officers confiscated items in a Co Antrim park where a ceremony took place in which it is claimed “large ceremonial knives” were displayed.
A number of reports were made to police on Wednesday after a group of men gathered in Newtownabbey’s Hazelbank Park.
Footage circulating online purporting to be of the gathering shows a number of man dancing while holding what appear to be knives, beside a fire or barbecue.
Several of the men appear to be wearing headdresses.
A Belfast DUP councillor was among those online to share claims of the gathering on social media, stating there were “legitimate questions about such scenes in a busy public park”.
Claims have been made on Facebook, including under the post from DUP Alderman Dean Mc-Cullough, that those involved in the gathering were of the Islamic faith.
The gathering took place on Eid al-Adha, one of the main celebrations in the Islamic calendar.
It is not, however, confirmed this gathering was related to that celebration.
Eid al-Adha
A spokesperson for the Islamic Foundation of Ireland said there is no mainstream practice involving knives at Eid al-Adha, a date on which they said Muslims mostly go to Mosques to pray and have family gatherings.
Some Arabic regions, including Afghanistan, have traditional dances involving ceremonial knives, but it is not confirmed if the gathering in Hazelbank is linked to such regional cultural practices.
In his post, Councillor Mc-Cullough said: “Reports of large ceremonial knives being displayed at Hazelbank Park have understandably caused significant concern among many local residents, families and park users.
“Ordinary people are perfectly entitled to raise serious and legitimate questions about such scenes in a busy public park, and that one clear and consistent standard must apply to everyone – without exception.”
Some posts relating to the gathering, in which the purported footage was shared, included racist comments relating to Muslims and foreign men.
Other posts claimed that police confiscated “knives”, and although the PSNI confirmed officers attended and removed items, it is not confirmed what they were.
A PSNI spokesperson told the Irish News: “Police received reports of a group of men dressed in ceremonial clothing at Hazelbank Park in Newtownabbey on Wednesday 27th May.
“Officers attended and spoke to a number of those present and recovered a number of items. Enquiries are ongoing.”
Following the footage being circulated, details of a planned “peaceful walk” event was shared on the ‘Concerned Parents Newtownabbey’ Facebook page, which was due to be held last night, ending at Hazelbank Park.
The Irish News contacted Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, which owns the park, for comment.
DUP puts brakes on the biggest upgrade to NI's employment laws: Sinn Féin
DAVID YOUNG, Belfast Telegraph, May 29th, 2026
Sinn Féin has accused the DUP of blocking a major Bill to overhaul Northern Ireland's employment laws.
However, Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly defended her party's decision not to sign off the Good Jobs Bill at Thursday's meeting of the Executive, insisting she and colleagues needed more time to scrutinise it.
Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O'Dowd said the place for scrutiny was on the floor of the Assembly and through the committee stage process.
His party colleague, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald, first set out the proposals in the Bill in April 2025, describing it as the “biggest upgrade to our employment legislation since the Good Friday Agreement”.
There are proposals in the legislation relating to zero-hour contracts, improving family-related leave and strengthening trade union rights.
However, more than a year later, the Bill has still not been published or debated by MLAs.
It was discussed by ministers in the powersharing Executive on Thursday but no consensus was reached on giving it the green light to begin its legislative journey through the Assembly.
While trade unions have voiced support for the Bill, some business groups have called for it to be paused, stating there is not enough time for it to be properly scrutinised before the end of the current Assembly mandate in March next year.
Ms Little-Pengelly and Mr O'Dowd appeared beside each other as they spoke to reporters during a visit to a pharmacy in Carryduff on Thursday afternoon.
The Finance Minister said: “It's no secret the DUP have stopped it leaving the Executive and going to the Assembly, so therefore it's blocked out in those circumstances.
“In my opinion, the best place to have these debates is on the floor of the Assembly. That's where you scrutinise legislation and then it goes into the committee stage, and committees scrutinise it line by line.
“Amendments can be brought forward, the business sector, the trade union sector, a range of society can come before the committees and give their point of view, and that's where changes are made, where changes are necessary.”
The Deputy First Minister insisted she needed more time to examine the Bill and its implications, not only for workers but for businesses too.
“Look, from my perspective, I have a duty in the Executive Committee, and that is to scrutinise the proposals that come forward,” she said.
“Once that legislation leaves the Executive, it becomes an Executive-agreed piece of legislation. So, therefore, of course, I will discharge the duties of scrutiny in the Executive Committee.”
Is it ok for Gavin Robinson to tell victims to ‘move on’, but not ok for John Swinney?
CHRIS DONNELLY, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
EARLIER this year, just before the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the DUP leader Gavin Robinson publicly declared that families of those killed by British forces on the day should “move on” and stop the “endless pursuits of others”, after it was announced that soldiers would not face perjury charges.
A few months before then, in October 2025, Gavin Robinson posted an image of the Parachute Regiment’s insignia within hours of news emerging that Soldier F had been acquitted of the murders he had been charged with on the day of the massacre.
As an example of gratuitously aggravating and hurting relatives of deceased victims, it has few parallels.
That the insignia was posted by a political leader, and not merely an anonymous online troll, is indicative of the current state of leadership within political unionism.
More recently, the concept of ‘moving on’ returned to our political scene.
In the aftermath of the Scottish and Welsh elections returning first ministers supportive of independence for their two nations, the Scottish leader, John Swinney, declared he was “happy to take forward collaboration with Sinn Féin and with Plaid Cymru as administrations led by nationalists who want to take forward their agenda”.
To reasonable political observers, it did not come as a surprising statement given that, to all intents and purposes, the three parties share the common agenda of seeking to develop new sovereign arrangements in these islands.
When subsequently challenged by elements of the media about working with Sinn Fein in 2026, Swinney stated that “the world has moved on. I know that my dialogue with Sinn Féin caused a bit of media consternation in Scotland. I really do think people have got to move on”.
Swinney also stated that “there is a lot that has happened in the years since the Troubles came to an end with the Good Friday Agreement. I respect entirely anybody who has suffered as a consequence of the Troubles, I respect what they have experienced and in no way does the political co-operation that I would take forward today undermine the respect I have for those individuals.”
The context within which John Swinney issued his appeal for people to “move on” could not be more different to that within which Gavin Robinson made his utterances.
Swinney clearly framed his comments in the context of respecting grief and trauma associated with the past whilst also seeking to recognise that, more than a quarter century on from the Good Friday Agreement, it is logical to wish to progress politics and forge relationships with other parties.
“ The context within which John Swinney issued his appeal for people to ‘move on’ could not be more different to that within which Gavin Robinson made his utterances
After all, it is not uncommon across the globe for political groups and nation states to enter into new relationships after having been involved in earlier conflicts.
The 1957 Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community amongst western European neighbours who a mere 12 years earlier had been involved in a brutal conflict claiming tens of millions of lives.
On the other hand, Gavin Robinson’s ‘moving on’ comments were issued in a very targeted manner at relatives of victims moments after they had heard that former soldiers, alleged to have given false evidence in relation to the atrocity in which their loved ones died, would not face any consequences.
Taken together with the Paratroopers’ insignia controversy, we can safely surmise that the emotions and attitudes of these victims’ families are not uppermost in the concerns of the DUP leader.
In a further development, the DUP leader has since demanded John Swinney issue a “clear and unambiguous apology” over his ‘moving on’ comments, claiming that they caused “genuine hurt among victims and survivors”.
Incredibly, Robinson went on to question whether the Scottish First Minister would regard the same “deeply hurtful” language appropriate in the context of the Lockerbie bombing, Dunblane shootings and attack at Glasgow Airport.
Hypocrisy
The breathtaking hypocrisy is almost half-expected these days.
But the notion of ‘moving on’, and who gets to decide when, if and how that happens, tells us a lot about the nature of power relationships within a society.
In the last Westminster election, elements of the local media attempted to make the Fermanagh and South Tyrone election contest not about Pat Cullen’s vast experience within the medical profession, and how she could bring that to help address our ailing health system, but rather about her attitude regarding the Enniskillen bomb in 1987.
Few alive then will forget the horror on their television scenes as the full story from the dreadful bombing became clear, and nor will they forget the powerful words of Gordon Wilson spoken hours after he had lost his daughter.
But that was 37 years prior to the election, when a conflict was waging in a north of Ireland very different to today.
At that time, the Cold War was still very much a thing and the UK and US governments continued to support an apartheid regime in South Africa.
Had Pat Cullen made comments akin to Gavin Robinson’s regarding Bloody Sunday, it may have been understandable. But, of course, she hadn’t, and instead she was a target of a media which too often is permitted to frame our news agenda.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone electorate subsequently delivered their answer in unprecedented numbers.
Time does move on, some relationships improve whilst others deteriorate as a consequence of events happening in real time. That is how it should be.
Most people intuitively get that, just as they understand the difference between Gavin Robinson calling for Bloody Sunday victims to ‘move on’ and others logically reasoning that turning a page is necessary and healthy for a society.
Any pay increase over 3.5% has ‘repercussions’ for ‘entire public sector’, Nesbitt warns NI doctors
ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, May 29th, 2026
Health minister welcomed the extra cash for waiting lists
HEALTH Minister Mike Nesbitt has announced £80m in funding to keep tackling waiting lists but warned doctors not to “reverse the good work” through threatened strikes next month.
Ahead of a visit to the Mater Hospital, Mr Nesbitt also told The Irish News that it would likely take a new Prime Minister to improve his incoming budget and the workforce crisis in nursing.
Although the Executive has yet to agree a much anticipated three year budget, Mr Nesbitt has been given early permission to spend the £80m to keep cutting red flag and critical waiting lists.
More specific detail on how the money will be spent is to follow.
“Last year the Executive gave me new money worth £50m for waiting list initiatives, we used that well and made a big impact on inpatient waiting lists,” he said.
“That money did not carry forward into 2026/27, so I said to Executive colleagues ‘If you don’t give me money to continue the waiting lists’ initiative, we’re going to lose momentum and the public will view this as a one-year wonder’.”
In the last year, he points towards a 100% reduction in those waiting over four years for procedures like colonoscopies and nearly the same for hip and knee operations.
Despite this, he still estimates it would take £100m a year for five years for Northern Ireland to lose its ‘worst in the UK’ waiting list reputation.
With hospital doctors potentially staging two 24-hour walkouts next month, Mr Nesbitt shows no signs of caving in to their demands.
“I understand that the BMA will represent their members and will try and get their members the best deals possible,” he said.
“But everybody has worked incredibly hard over the last waiting list initiative, and if they do take the industrial action they are balloting on that will have an impact and that will reverse the good work that they have achieved over the last couple of months.”
Stormont Executive decision
With the BMA rejecting a recommended 3.5% pay increase, he said: “My difficulty is, my clear understanding is that pay parity with England is an Executive decision and therefore I can’t, even if I had the money, go beyond 3.5% without going to the Executive.
With hospital doctors potentially staging two 24-hour walkouts next month, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, above, shows no signs of caving in to their demands
“Because if I break pay parity, that’s repercussive for police officers, for teachers, for civil servants, for the entire public sector.”
With news this week that spend on agency nurses has trebled, he said efforts to rebalance the workforce were ongoing.
“To a certain extent it was a seller’s market when these agreements were reached and it was a bit of a monopoly and I think officials in the department were under a lot of pressure just to get a deal done,” he said.
With his department facing a projected deficit this year of £760m (a figure which often varies), Mr Nesbitt said he expects no improvement from the incoming draft budget which suggests £26bn for health over three years.
“The Executive, particularly the first minister and finance minister, believe London should address what they believe is a structural flaw in Northern Ireland’s budget,” he said.
“Wales get about a billion pounds over their assessed need, Scotland get about £3bn over their assessed need. We don’t.
“They’ve been making that argument for some time but it hasn’t penetrated yet. The only hope of really significant change in terms of the budget, would be either there’s a new prime minister in Downing Street or (Keir Starmer) changes tack and starts spending money.”
Prevention or cure?
While not settled on a retirement date, he described success as his successor following his direction, in terms of moving towards a neighbourhood model.
“Putting more emphasis on prevention, keeping people healthy…. healthcare as close to their front door if not through it and into their living room.”
With another interview scheduled, this time about his reporting days during Northern Ireland’s last World Cup appearance in 1986, there’s a final word on press negativity.
Hospital doctors in Northern Ireland are currently being balloted on taking two days of strike action next month
With the health service having an estimated 200,000 contacts with the public a day, from phone calls to complex surgeries, he said: “99.99% of those engagements are at worst appropriate and acceptable, and at best world class.
“It does seem to me occasionally that the media pick up on the one that went wrong. Of course we should never accept the one that went wrong, but there could be to my mind a bit more balance about all the ones that go right.”
Comment - LETTER: Irish News, May 29th, 2026
Honeyed words about king and Irish culture set off my Kinawley alarm bell
WITH all due respect to Noel Doran and his article – ‘If King Charles can respect Irish culture, why can’t the DUP?’ (May 25) – let me defend the Protestants.
Because of my respect for the former editor of The Irish News, I found myself warming up to his honeyed words, until the Kinawley alarm bell went off – was this article sweet reasonableness, or the colonial cringe (an internalised inferiority complex) that so many Irish people tend to have regarding the royal family and the kings and queens of England? Trying to score points by praising the virtues of the royal family has always struck me as a very non-historical thing to be at.
Mr Doran gushes: “Queen Elizabeth opened her landmark address at Dublin Castle by saying in Irish ‘Uachtaráin agus a chairde’ (‘Mr President and friends’) and went on to express her deep sympathy to everyone who had suffered during the enduring conflict between Britain and Ireland.”
Really, is that the best we could have expected of Queen Elizabeth?
How have we been browbeaten with such a double standard? Why should the queen not have simply done the decent thing and denounce England’s genocidal, racist and vicious anti-Catholicism in Ireland? And why has her son, King Charles, not done so? (I hear the colonial cringe lobby cry out, “Ah, sure the queen or king could not do that – ordinary people are expected to admit their war crimes, but not surely the king or queen”.)
“ How have we been browbeaten with such a double standard? Why should the queen not have simply done the decent thing and denounce England’s genocidal, racist and vicious anti-Catholicism in Ireland?
Look, the Protestants of Ireland did not invent and enshrine into law anti-Irish racism and the pathology of anti-Catholicism. That was done by England’s kings and queens and government.
King Charles in his coronation shamelessly and proudly swore to uphold Protestant succession to the British throne. The Protestants of Northern Ireland cheered for that of course – but that still was only the symptom, not the root cause.
The British constitution and the royal family are the root cause of that. The British constitution (unwritten and un-codified) bans Catholics from being the king or queen – which both Tony Blair, after he was PM, and Sir Keir Starmer before he became PM, denounced as discriminatory. (Please don’t even think of trying to tell me that the reason why the king or queen cannot be Catholic is because the monarch is also the governor of the Church of England – that is no excuse, just proof that Church and state should be separate, as the framers of the American constitution so wisely knew from the dreadful history of England’s Established Church.)
I will believe that the royal family sincerely has had a conversion to democracy when it gives up the monarchy. And I will believe the Anglican Church has had a conversion when it rejects the absurd theology that the king or queen automatically has the divine right to be governor of the Anglican Church.
FR SEAN McMANUS Washington, DC
