Donaldson arrived at Newry Crown Court at just after 9.15am for his trial on sex offence charges.
The 63 year old was met by his solicitor at the courthouse this morning.
The process of selecting a jury is underway, they need to pick a jury of 12 to hear the evidence and is likely to take the majority of the day, reports state.
Mr Donaldson has been charged with 18 charges, including, one of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 charges of indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to all 18 charges.
His wife Eleanor has been charged and denied five charges including abetting her husband's alleged offending. Mrs Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to all five charges. She will not attend court as she has been deemed unfit to face a criminal trial due to mental health.
The jury will be asked to decide if she is guilty, however she cannot be convicted or be sent to prison.
Mr Donaldson will face a normal criminal trial, his wife will face a trial of the facts. Mrs Donaldson is deemed unfit to attend court and to be charged as according to RTE, medical professionals told the court that she was found to be "severely depressed", suicidal and suffering with "high levels of anxiety".
The alleged offences have been reported to have taken place over a 23 year period.
The couple were arrested and charged two years ago, just two weeks after Mr Donaldson had been in the spotlight for St Patrick's events at the White House.
Two weeks after he returned from the States, detectives arrived at their home and the couple were taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim Police Station. Whilst he was in the States, he was unaware that two women had alleged to have been the victims of sexual offences by Mr Donaldson and his wife. The two alleged victims of sexual abuse have been granted automatic lifetime anonymity.
The PSNI were concerned about the material that will be posted to social media during the trial, they released this statement: "As legal proceedings are ongoing in a high-profile sexual offences case, remember that speculation and commentary online may prejudice proceedings. Publishing information which could directly or indirectly identify complainants is a criminal offence."
