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https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2026/05/20/eleanor-donaldson-unfit-to-stand-trial-on-aiding-and-abetting-in-connection-with-jeffrey-donaldson-sex-abuse-charges/

The Irish Times

Courts Eleanor Donaldson unfit to stand trial on aiding and abetting in connection with Jeffrey Donaldson sex abuse charges Former DUP leader was arrested and charged with non-recent sex offences in March 2024

Eleanor Donaldson, the wife of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, is unfit to stand trial, a judge has ruled.

Judge Paul Ramsey made his decision after medical evidence regarding Eleanor Donaldson’s health was given at a hearing at Newry Crown Court on Wednesday.

Eleanor Donaldson (59), with an address in Dromore, Co Down, is charged with five counts of aiding and abetting in connection with charges of sexual offences facing her husband, Jeffrey Donaldson.

Jeffrey Donaldson (63), of the same address, is accused of 18 offences – one count of rape, four of gross indecency with or towards a child, and 13 of indecent assault on a female, on dates between 1987 and 2008.

Both Eleanor and Jeffrey Donaldson deny the charges.

Following the judge’s ruling, legal argument was heard on Wednesday on the format of the trial, which cannot be disclosed due to reporting restrictions.

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The couple were not in court as neither defendant was required to attend.

The trial, which was originally due to begin in March 2025, has already been postponed twice due to a deterioration in the mental health of Eleanor Donaldson.

At a previous hearing on Tuesday, the court heard the trial was “on track” to begin as scheduled next week.

The longstanding MP for Lagan Valley, Jeffrey Donaldson resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after he was arrested and charged with non-recent sex offences in March 2024.

Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into Stormont after a two-year boycott of the Northern Ireland power-sharing institutions.

The then deputy leader, Gavin Robinson, the MP for east Belfast, took over as DUP leader.

Very glad to see the mods were quick to remove the post offering £60/hr for your voice ti be recorded!

People need to be very very wary of this sort of thing!

Your voice is as unique as your fingerprints are! You’re potentially giving away something that’s unique to you with little to no clue what it’s being used for.

This is the future of scams right here and you volunteering your voice and likely signing away any rights to it being used in ANY capacity this person/company feels like is VERY DANGEROUS!

I’d be very very wary of this! And think about how your voice could be used by trained AI to scam your friends and families! Potentially accessing your personal money or data if used in conjunction with info obtained in a data breach

£60/hr is the hook!

Always remember what yer granny always said! If it sounds too good to be true it usually is!

£60 is isn’t worth you potentially loosing thousands in a year or two!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqjpg9x9r9zo

King and Queen on first visit to Northern Ireland this year

Image source,Reuters

Image caption,

King Charles III and Queen Camilla attend an event to mark Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann coming to Belfast in August

By

Mark Simpson

Community correspondent, BBC News NI

• Published 19 May 2026, 13:23 BST

Updated 48 minutes ago

King Charles III and Queen Camilla have arrived in Belfast on their first visit to Northern Ireland this year.

First stop for the royal couple was an event at the Titanic Quarter of Belfast to celebrate the city hosting this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which is the world's largest festival of Irish music and dance.

Due to be held in August, it will be the first time the city has hosted the festival.

At the event today, the royal couple were greeted by Irish dancers and musicians.

'I don't think I slept last night'

Image source,Reuters

Image caption,

King Charles and Queen Camilla play bodhran drums which are traditional Irish instruments, as they watch Irish dancers perform

One of the musicians involved in the event admitted being extremely nervous before the performance for royalty.

"I don't think I slept last night," said Bronagh McClean, from County Down.

She helps to run Ards CCÉ (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann), which means society for the musicians of Ireland.

"Bringing everybody together is what it's all about.

"When we work together we can create lovely music and friendships, and they're there forever," she said.

Image caption,

Bronagh McClean helps to run Ards CCÉ (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann) and said she was extremely nervous before the performance

Members of the Belfast Bands Forum got a surprise when the royal couple appeared.

Darren Leighton said: "The band members weren't briefed until this morning on who was coming. They didn't know until the King actually stepped out of the car."

The coming together of band music and traditional Irish music, in front of the royal couple, was for many the highlight of the event.

"The collaboration is working very well. It's great musically to see what can be done," said Maurice Brown, from the bands forum.

Just after the King and Queen left Titanic quarter for their next engagement, torrential rain began.

During the visit, it stayed mainly dry.

Image caption,

Maurice Brown (left) and Darren Leighton (right) from Belfast Bands Forum

It is the 43rd time that he has visited Northern Ireland, first as Prince of Wales and now as King.

On Monday, it was announced that he is due to make his first visit to the Republic of Ireland since he became the King.

No date has been confirmed but it is expected to take place next year.

The invitation came from Irish President Catherine Connolly, who is currently on an official visit to England.

The King's mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, paid a state visit to Ireland in 2011, the first by a British monarch since Irish independence.

The first visit by the King to Northern Ireland was back in 1961 with his mother, his father the Duke of Edinburgh and his sister Princess Anne.

Image source,Pacemaker

Between 2002 and 2023, he visited Northern Ireland every year before his cancer diagnosis in 2024.

His treatment has since been reduced and he is said to be recovering well.

The King, 77, last year met Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly during a visit in March which included a trip to the city centre for some whiskey-tasting.

The latest visit to Belfast is the 24th by Queen Camilla. She made 19 visits when she was Duchess of Cornwall.

In March 2024, after her husband's cancer diagnosis, she came alone.

The royal couple were welcomed to Belfast on their latest visit by John Walsh, chief executive of the city council.

Also in attendance was the Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly, in one of her final official duties in the role.

JOHN Swinney has “no intention” of apologising after he urged people to “move on” from the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The First Minister was speaking to The Herald newspaper last week after his party’s election victory and was asked about potential dealings with Sinn Fein as a result of the three devolved administrations of the UK having pro-independence parties in leading roles.

The First Minister recognised his dealings with the party, whose vice president Michelle O’Neill is First Minister of Northern Ireland, had caused some “media consternation”, but he added: “I really do think people have got to move on.”

Families of Scots killed in the Troubles hit out at the comments, telling the same newspaper the First Minister should apologise.

But speaking on Monday, the First Minister said: “I have no intention of apologising for that.

“Sinn Fein are an elected administration in Northern Ireland, and I deal with elected politicians.”

Asked if his language was sloppy, he added: “I think the issues that are involved in the peace process have involved people moving on, people have had to move on, that’s exactly what they’ve done, and I’m simply reflecting what’s happened.”

Speaking to The National's podcast, Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said "nobody has anything to fear" from the party, adding that O'Neill had worked to show she is a first minister for all.

"I will never be disrespectful or insensitive to those who have suffered loss as a result of our conflict," he said.

"I would never do that because I know exactly what that feels like. But I understand the context and the motivation behind what John Swinney has said.

"Nobody has anything to fear from a Sinn Fein MP for North Belfast. I am here to represent everybody in North Belfast whether they voted for me or whether they didn't.

"Michelle O'Neill has described herself as a first minister for all and has taken some extraordinary steps to show that in action not just in words, whether that's meeting with the British royal family or attending commemoration events, for example, around the Somme."

Following this month’s election, the largest parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland support leaving the UK, which has sparked co-operation between the SNP, Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru.

“I am very happy to take forward collaboration with Sinn Fein and with Plaid Cymru as administrations led by nationalists who want to take forward their agenda,” the First Minister said.

“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.”

https://www.thenational.scot/news/26117026.john-swinney-stands-sinn-fein-comments-backlash/

​

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2026/05/19/tattle-life-couple-are-refused-permission-to-appeal-against-losing-300k-damages-award/

Alan Erwin

Tue May 19 2026 - 17:18

•

2 MIN READ

A Co Antrim couple who sued over abusive comments on gossip website Tattle Life have been refused High Court permission in Belfast to appeal against losing their award of £300,000 (€346,000) in damages.

Neil and Donna Sands also failed on Tuesday in an attempt to delay lifting an order freezing £1.8 million in worldwide assets belonging to the controversial site’s founder, Sebastian Bond.

Judge Michael Humphreys held they had not established an arguable case that rulings he made against them were wrong.

The couple must now obtain direct consent from the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal to hear any further challenge.

Proceedings centred on postings published on Tattle Life, which hosts message boards and comments about influencers, celebrities and other members of the public.

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The couple launched a two-year legal battle to uncover the operator of the online forum.

Neil Sands, a 44-year-old technology entrepreneur, and his wife Donna (35), who runs a fashion business, claimed they were subject to a campaign of harassment, invasion of privacy, defamation and breach of data rights.

Another judge who previously dealt with their case said the site had been set up to deliberately inflict hurt and harm by allowing the anonymous trashing of reputations and “peddling untruths for profit”.

Bond was publicly named as a founder of Tattle Life after reporting restrictions were lifted in June last year.

Assets linked to him and two companies based in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong were also frozen to ensure the damages award and associated costs could be met.

Bond mounted a bid to have the judgment made against him set aside based on alleged failures to make full disclosures in court applications and flaws in how the writ was served.

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Lawyers representing the website founder and Hong Kong firm Kumquat Tree Ltd, both defendants in the original action, claimed an abuse of process and sought to set aside the court’s offer for substituted service.

A solicitor for the couple accepted previous evidence had been incomplete and that information known about Bond should have been disclosed earlier.

An apology was offered for what was described as honest mistakes not intended to mislead or create any tactical advantage in the legal battle.

Earlier this month the judge declared that the writ had not been properly served on either Bond or Kumquat Tree Ltd.

At that stage he set aside the previous judgment made against the defendants and lifted the worldwide freezing order on their assets of £1.8 million.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2026/0519/1574138-donaldson-trial-date/

Updated / Tuesday, 19 May 2026 13:05

By Vincent Kearney Northern Editor

 

The trial of former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife on historical sexual offences is set to go ahead as scheduled next week, a court hearing has been told.

The couple were arrested and charged more than two years ago.

Following a short hearing at Newry Magistrates' Court, Judge Paul Ramsey said he plans to begin the process of selecting a jury for the trial next Tuesday.

There will be a further hearing tomorrow to discuss a further medical report on Ms Donaldson and other legal issues.

Barristers for the Public Prosecution Service and the two defendants said they were all ready to proceed to trial next week.

Mr Donaldson, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 18 charges including one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 charges of indecent assault.

Eleanor Donaldson, 59, has pleaded not guilty to five charges including aiding and abetting her husband.

The 23 charges relate to offences allegedly committed against two plaintiffs between 1985 and 2008.

The couple were not required to be in court for today's hearing and are not required to attend tomorrow’s hearing.

I thought the address and the name were fake but it turns out she’s a real person and that’s her real address and that’s why it was removed. Last time I swear, I never even got a chance to read anyone’s thoughts on it. 2 PSNI officers been in and out of my partners work all morning. Has anyone heard anything else.

This morning at 4:30AM, my partner and dozens of other business and schools in Antrim town received a threatening email. The writer claims to have planted bombs at every school in Antrim and will be roaming the town today with firearms with the intention of causing as much death as possible. The Email was signed with a name, address and phone number. It’s most likely a hoax from someone who had a bit too much to drink last night, but be vigilant if you’re in the town today anyway.