Northern Ireland's Trimble, Nobel Peace Prize winner, dies at 77

FILE PHOTO: Member of the House of Lords David Trimble walks outside Westminster as parliament discusses Brexit, sitting on a Saturday for the first time since the 1982 Falklands War, in London, Britain, October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo

Former Northern Irish first minister David Trimble, a pro-British leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, has died aged 77, his family said on Monday.

"It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness," Trimble's family said in a statement published by his Ulster Unionist Party.

Trimble and John Hume, former leader of the Catholic Social Democratic and Labour Party, jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for their roles in helping end more than 30 years of bloodshed.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Mark Porter)