Of the many tributes following the death of David Trimble, some of the most about-face were from the DUP.
Former party leader Rev Ian Paisley once labelled the ex-UUP leader a "traitor" and "Judas" as the DUP stoked unionist anger over his negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement.
Lord Trimble was jostled and heckled at events by DUP protesters angered by the 1998 peace deal.
But now the current DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who quit the UUP in 2003 after disagreeing with Lord Trimble over the deal and IRA decommissioning, has hailed him as a "titan of unionism".
Read more: David Trimble: Leading figures across the peace process era and political divide pay tribute
Former DUP leader Arlene Foster, who alongside Sir Jeffrey abandoned Lord Trimble, said "history will be kind to David" and "he got the big picture right".
DUP MP Ian Paisley said that "of course he (Lord Trimble) was a brave politician", brushing off his late father's past words as the rough and tumble of politics.
After usurping the UUP at the polls, the DUP went on to accept power-sharing under the framework of the Belfast Agreement with relatively minor amendments.
In party statements nowadays, the DUP appears to laud Lord Trimble as it cites his opposition to Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol to support its own arguments.
Without a hint of irony, Sir Jeffrey quoted the former First Minister in February this year and referred to him as "one of the key authors of the Belfast Agreement".
In June the Lagan Valley MP lamented that the Belfast Agreement, which he once opposed, had been "significantly damaged" as a result of the Protocol.
"A man of courage and conviction" was how several of the newspaper front pages summed up Lord Trimble's immense political contribution to Northern Ireland following his death aged 77 on Monday.
The hardliner who once paraded arm-in-arm with Rev Paisley at a Drumcree march made a remarkable transformation into a man of negotiation and compromise.
He played a major part in bringing about the 1998 peace deal that laid the foundations for Northern Ireland moving beyond its violent past.
His efforts alongside the late SDLP leader John Hume won plaudits on the international stage, including the joint Nobel Peace Prize.
But it still came at huge personal and political cost. The UUP lost seats, power and influence, and has never really recovered since.
He lost his own Westminster seat to the DUP in 2005, bringing to an end his career in elected politics.
Lord Trimble did the heavy lifting that many within unionism lacked the bravery to pursue. Others reaped the political benefits.
Stormont has faltered and collapsed several times in the years that have followed, with the power-sharing institutions currently in limbo as a result of a DUP boycott over the Protocol.
However, the relative peace envisioned by the Good Friday Agreement, which reaches its 25th anniversary next year, has endured.
Life in Northern Ireland is infinitely better today because of the sacrifices Lord Trimble made in working with others to achieve the deal.
Reflecting on Lord Trimble, Sir Jeffrey said: "What we have is imperfect and we must keep building on it and trying to get stronger and firmer foundations for what we have in Northern Ireland."
He added: "In the end, a Northern Ireland that is at peace with itself is a Northern Ireland in which the union will flourish."
Lord Trimble's achievements remind us that, no matter the problems faced in present day Stormont politics, no challenge should be considered too great to overcome.
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