Debate contribution: Jeffrey Donaldson: Sentencing

Debate contribution by Mr Jonathan Buckley on 19 October 2026.

MLA: Mr Jonathan Buckley
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 19 October 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Matter of the Day
Heading: Jeffrey Donaldson: Sentencing
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5795246

Text

Jeffrey Donaldson deserves every day of his sentence and much more for his crimes against innocent women. I have been absolutely appalled to watch in this debate what has been mere lip service being paid to the trauma that those ladies went through by Sinn Féin and, sadly, the TUV representative. They have both used the victims' experiences to further their political ends. I say that with no pleasure; it is a disgrace at the highest level, where we need to see responsibility. Women in today’s society are suffering, and they have had to listen to political reps in the Chamber trying to score political points about what was a horrendous ordeal in the courts. Do you have any morality? Those young women — victim A and victim B — are on record as expressing the pain and anguish that they felt at the hands of a perverted, self-centred demon, only for Members to come to the Chamber and launch political assaults on other Members. Have some self-respect. Victim A said:
"My childhood was stolen from me and I will never get it back."
and:
"those responsible do not control me now. They forever changed me, but they will not take my future. The cycle is being broken and it ends with me."
Victim B said:
"Many people get to look ahead and plan their lives with hope, I've never known what that feels like. My hope was taken away from me a long time ago."
No words in the Chamber will even come close to describing the experiences that the victims not only put down on paper but endured through a lengthy court ordeal. To this day, people speculate about their identity. There are victims at the heart of this, and there are others across Northern Ireland. Let us bear that in mind when we talk about women and their experiences at the hands of monsters. That is where my thoughts are today, and I encourage every Member to keep their remarks focused on those victims.

337 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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