Former Northern Ireland first minister David Trimble has died. The 77-year-old ex-leader of the Ulster Unionist Party was one of the principal architects of the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of conflict in the region.
Lord Trimble, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize along with SDLP leader John Hume, died on Monday following an illness. A planned recalled sitting of the Stormont Assembly on Tuesday has been postponed as a mark of respect.
In a statement on Monday evening, his family said: “It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish premier Micheal Martin were among those paying tribute to his legacy. Mr Martin hailed the peer’s “central contribution” in setting the island on a journey towards peace and reconciliation. “All of us in politics at the time witnessed his crucial and courageous role in the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement and his leadership in building support in his party and his community for the Agreement,” he said.
Mr Johnson tweeted: “He was a giant of British and international politics and will be long remembered for his intellect, personal bravery and fierce determination to change politics for the better.” Current UUP leader Doug Beattie described the former first minister as a man of courage and vision. “He chose to grasp the opportunity for peace when it presented itself and sought to end the decades of violence that blighted his beloved Northern Ireland,” he said.
Ireland’s deputy premier Leo Varadkar said Lord Trimble took “enormous personal and political risks for peace”. Mr Varadkar said: “David Trimble took enormous personal and political risks for peace. He put the future of Northern Ireland before his party’s interests and sought to make Northern Ireland a warmer house for all who lived there.”
Former prime minister Sir Tony Blair described David Trimble’s contribution as “immense, unforgettable and frankly irreplaceable” and said he will be mourned by friends and foes alike. Sir Tony said: “David Trimble, in his support of the peace process, showed politics at its very best. When some within his own ranks were opposed to the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, he supported it. When we needed his willingness to go the extra mile for peace, he travelled that mile. When there was the prospect of collapse of the process without strong leadership, he provided that leadership.
“His contribution to Northern Ireland and to the United Kingdom was immense, unforgettable and frankly irreplaceable. Whatever disagreements we had – and there were quite a few – I never had anything other than profound respect for David as a person and as a Leader. We have lost today someone who will be mourned by friends and foes alike.”
Former minister Lord Mandelson said Lord Trimble went through “pain and strife” implementing the Good Friday Agreement, yet “didn’t buckle”. He added: “David Trimble not only took on the Herculean task of negotiating the Good Friday Agreement on behalf of unionists but went through all the pain and strife of implementing it. Throughout, he faced unending onslaught from people in his own community – I know because we faced many of these audiences together – and he didn’t buckle. He was a courageous man who has earned his place in history.”
Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern described David Trimble as “courageous”, adding he had great admiration for him. Mr Ahern said: “He was courageous and I had many a row with him and many arguments and in more recent years we’ve had good laughs about those debates. But he was tough.
“As a good negotiator I think when he made the deal, when he settled something, he stuck by it. Subsequently he paid the price. And in spite of the horrendous problems that he was under from within his own party and from outside the wider Unionist group, in that last week of the Good Friday agreement he stuck by it. He got a lot of criticism from the wider unionist family but you know, I have great admiration for him.”
Mr Ahern recalled his first visit to the unionist headquarters with Mr Trimble on Glengall Street in Belfast in 1995: “That day, we said, listen, should we give this a try? If it works, it’s good. If it doesn’t, you know, let’s not fall out too much. I never fell out with him: fought with him, rowed with him and argued with him. But I think we had the one determination: that we would end violence in Northern Ireland.”
Former prime minister Sir John Major said: “When David Trimble became leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, he made a critical contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process. He shed his former opposition to the process, and became an innovative advocate for a peaceful settlement.
“This was a brave and principled change of policy, and critical to the creation of peace in Northern Ireland. He thoroughly merits an honourable place amongst peacemakers.”
Lord Trimble, from Co Down, distinguished himself in an academic career in the law faculty at the Queen’s University Belfast before moving into politics. He initially became involved in the unionist offshoot organisation Vanguard in the early 1970s and while he was best known for his involvement with the Belfast Agreement, in his younger days he had opposed an earlier attempt, the Sunningdale Agreement. He went on to join the then dominant Ulster Unionist Party in 1978.
It was at the university in 1983 that he heard the IRA’s gunshots that killed his fellow law professor and UUP colleague Edgar Graham and later identified the body. He left academia for politics full time when he was elected as MP for Upper Bann following a by election in 1990 after the death of the incumbent Harold McCusker.
Lord Trimble rose to prominence partly due to the Drumcree dispute, as nationalist residents opposed the procession of an orange parade along the Garvaghy Road. He led the parade along the road in 1995, famously joining hands with Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley.
A few months later, Lord Trimble unexpectedly won the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party over the favourite Lord Kilclooney, starting his often turbulent time at the helm of the party. He marked a number of firsts as Ulster Unionist leader, including becoming the party’s first leader in 30 years to meet with the Irish premier in Dublin and in 1997 he became the first unionist leader since partition to negotiate with Sinn Fein.
The peace talks, which started formally in 1998 under the chairmanship of former US senator George Mitchell, saw many nights of intensive negotiation pressed on by then prime minister Tony Blair, taoiseach Bertie Ahern and then US president Bill Clinton. The process faltered several times but perhaps most notably when then Ulster Unionist Jeffrey Donaldson walked out of the talks.
However, on April 10, 1998, the agreement was signed and endorsed following a referendum held the following month. Lord Trimble became the first first minister of Northern Ireland to be elected — on July 1, 1998 — alongside SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon as deputy First Minister.
But the path of devolved government was far from smooth for the two men, with the issue of the paramilitary groups decommissioning overshadowing Stormont. Lord Trimble also struggled with internal divisions within his party which saw Mr Donaldson, along with fellow future DUP leader Arlene Foster and Norah Beare, resigning in December 2003.
Lord Trimble lost his Westminster seat in Upper Bann at the 2005 election to DUP candidate David Simpson. He resigned as leader of the party whose once dominant Westminster representation had been reduced to just one seat. He was made a life peer the following year and later took up his seat in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party to have, he said, great influence on UK politics.
While generally socially conservative in outlook, Lord Trimble admitted in July 2019 that he had changed his position on equal marriage after his daughter Victoria married her girlfriend in 2017. Lord Trimble’s final public appearance came at the end of June at the unveiling of a portrait of him by artist Colin Davidson at the Queen’s University.
He then reflected on the approach of the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, and pointed out it has survived despite the objections. “The Good Friday Agreement is something which everybody in Northern Ireland has been able to agree with, it doesn’t mean they agree with everything, there are aspects which some people thought were a mistake, but the basic thing is that this was agreed,” he told PA. But he remained sharply critical of the UK Government over Brexit trade arrangements.
Lord Trimble is survived by his wife Daphne and sons and daughters, Richard, Victoria, Nicholas and Sarah.
