BELFAST

“I’M NOT SURE Jeffrey could actually afford her. He certainly couldn’t afford the media circus she would bring with her.”

A FIRM SUPPORTER of embattled former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson insists that international superstar celebrity lawyer Amal Clooney will not be appearing for the Unionist Knight of the Realm on his court date in Newry, Co. Down later this month.

“Can you imagine it?” said the insider who described himself as “close friend” of Sir Jeffrey, “a wagon train of media, maybe even George and his movie buddies hanging around? No thanks. Quiet dignity is the order of the day.”

It was Sir Jeffrey’s journey to London after he was charged with historic sexual offences that led to speculation he was in the UK capital to instruct some serious legal muscle. And Amal Clooney was one of several high-profile lawyers whose names were bandied about.

“It’s just a pity old Sir Edward Carson isn’t still around,” the Donaldson insider commented. “He’s the man you’d want for this kind of thing. Otherwise Jeffrey might have to go to one of them Fenian human rights law firms that are springing up all over the place. I suppose their day has come, hasn’t it.”