A political row has erupted at Stormont as opposition parties demand the DUP provides full transparency over its safeguarding procedures following the conviction of former leader Jeffrey Donaldson.

Donaldson was found guilty last week of 18 sexual offences, including rape, committed against two girls. The conviction has triggered revelations that senior DUP members were informed of allegations against him years before he became party leader.

Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party and the SDLP have all called for independent scrutiny. Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey said the public needs full accountability and her party will table assembly questions on Monday. Alliance leader Naomi Long insisted that only a genuinely independent inquiry can restore confidence and urged assembly speaker Edwin Poots, a former DUP leader, to provide a full account of what he knew.

It has emerged that before Donaldson won the leadership in 2021, the then-MP Ian Paisley was approached by a young woman who said she had been exploited by Donaldson. Paisley said he passed the information to Edwin Poots, who was elected leader but later told investigators the party had observed the woman's wishes at all times.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna said the revelations exposed hypocrisy and must mark a watershed for Northern Ireland politics, raising serious questions about decisions that delayed reforms.

Founding DUP member Wallace Thompson described the situation as a crisis of monumental proportions. He said the party, founded on strong moral principles, would leave its late founder Ian Paisley appalled.

The DUP has announced it is commissioning an independent review. A spokesperson said current leader Gavin Robinson, deputy leader Michelle McIlveen and the party chairman are deeply concerned by indications that some individuals knew of inappropriate behaviour but did not report it to party officers.

Further controversy has centred on earlier police knowledge. Former head of the PSNI serious crime branch Tim Hanley has stated that in 2006 he and another detective saw Donaldson enter a London gay sauna, at a time when Donaldson publicly described homosexuality as sinful. Separately, it has been learned that a police detective and a child safeguarding expert suspected Donaldson might be an abuser following a meeting with one of the complainants in 2023, a year before she formally named him to police.

The PSNI has declined to comment while legal proceedings continue. The DUP says the terms of its independent review will be announced shortly. The assembly is due to rise for summer recess after this week.