David Trimble

David Trimble, a former first minister of Northern Ireland who won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end decades of conflict in the region, has died at 77.

Senior colleagues defected to the DUP, Trimble lost his seat in Britain’s Parliament in 2005 and soon after he resigned as party leader. There are aspects which some people thought were a mistake, but the basic thing is that this was agreed.” Trimble struggled to keep his party together as the power-sharing government was rocked by disagreements over disarming the IRA and other paramilitary groups.

The former UUP leader and Good Friday Agreement architect served as First Minister between 1998 and 2002.

I hope they are comforted by the immense legacy that David left to the people of Northern Ireland.” As a couple throughout their married life Daphne gave exemplary support to David and in his declining health was a tower of strength to him. "Sad to hear of his passing tonight. "As a Nobel laureate, his words carried significant weight and he helped raise awareness of the threat the protocol posed to Northern Ireland, particularly amongst the wider UK audience. Over the course of his political career but particularly in difficult years of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations he demonstrated immense courage and took political risks that sustained the life of our fledgling peace process. He was very kind to me and gave me many political opportunities. 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. “These are just two small examples of leadership that understood there is a greater good, that putting our people before party interest is the only path to a better future. I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Daphne Trimble, their daughters Victoria and Sarah, their sons Richard and Nicholas and to the entire family circle. But I think we had the one determination: that we would end violence in Northern Ireland." It is to his credit that he supported that Agreement. I thank him for that. Lord Empey said: “Lord Trimble was a giant of Northern Ireland politics.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie has led the tributes to Lord David Trimble following news the former party leader's death on Monday evening. By Mark Rainey.

“I have known David and Daphne Trimble since my university days when David was one of my lecturers and Daphne was a fellow student in my law year. As a couple throughout their married life Daphne gave exemplary support to David and in his declining health was a tower of strength to him. “David Trimble was a man of courage and vision.

David Trimble was the Ulster Unionist hardliner, unafraid of flexing his political muscles, who became a moderate, although tough, leader of the party and ...

This was a point made by Mr Trimble in his first speech to the newly formed Assembly after a huge majority of the people of Northern Ireland had voted for peace. But his passion for politics was beginning to override his interest in the law. He was, to some extent, a cynical politician and above all a realist. Once he said: “In politics you never totally trust anybody because you never know what is going to happen. But not long into his leadership he suffered what could have been a severe and long-term setback. However, this accord between the two men was a short-lived affair. In 1998, Lord Trimble secured just 51% of the unionist vote endorsing the agreement. Although his wife Daphne remained involved with the Ulster Unionist Party, as did one of his sons, Nicholas, who is a councillor in Lisburn and Castlereagh. Later, a vote on his own leadership was to be carried by only a marginally bigger margin. Even so, many people saw Lord Trimble as a main obstruction to the peace process getting under way. But it was a view that was to be vindicated later. But at the end of the day, he was praised by all parties and by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, for the courage he had shown in the face of opposition from some unionist colleagues of his.

Tributes flow for former Ulster Unionist leader who led Northern Ireland's first government following the Good Friday Agreement.

“He paid a political price for that.” Today’s successors to Trimble and Hume, who died in 2020, paid tribute to Trimble as the man most responsible for keeping enough unionists at the negotiating table opposite Sinn Féin to make the Good Friday deal possible. In his address after being awarded the prize, Trimble expressed hopes that the Northern Ireland Assembly could foster a new society where British unionists and Irish nationalists no longer harbored “good reason to fear the other.”

The Ulster Unionist was one of the key figures in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. | UTV News.

“I have known David and Daphne Trimble since my university days when David was one of my lecturers and Daphne was a fellow student in my law year. The people of the UK owe him an immense debt of gratitude for all he achieved for our Union." As a couple throughout their married life Daphne gave exemplary support to David and in his declining health was a tower of strength to him. A brilliant statesman and dedicated public servant, his legacy as an architect of the Good Friday Agreement will live on forever. “Though politically we fundamentally disagreed over the Belfast Agreement, latterly as joint applicants in the Judicial Review challenge to the Protocol we shared a common determination to rid Northern Ireland of this iniquitous assault on our constitutional position. He played a very important role in building peace on our island. My condolences to his wife and children, who I know will draw comfort from the legacy he leaves,” he said. “Throughout some of the most difficult years of the Troubles David was a committed and passionate advocate for the Union, at a time when doing so placed a considerable threat to his safety. I hope they are comforted by the immense legacy that David left to the people of Northern Ireland.” “David Trimble was a man of courage and vision. It is my enduring memory of his commitment to reconciliation. He was a committed and passionate unionist who always wanted the best for Northern Ireland.

The unionist politician, who was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in bringing peace to Northern Ireland, has passed away following a ...

“As a couple throughout their married life Daphne gave exemplary support to David and in his declining health was a tower of strength to him. Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said he was “greatly saddened” to hear of Lord Trimble’s death. He was the first First Minister, but was not given the time to make the most of it. He served as both the MP and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Upper Bann, and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2006. He will also be remembered as a great Unionist.” “When we needed his willingness to go the extra mile for peace, he travelled that mile. The UUP does not have a single MP, and has been outshone by the cross-community Alliance. The DUP grows ever more strident. When some within his own ranks were opposed to the Good Friday agreement, he supported it. “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.’’ When it returned the UUP was a shrunken force. He said: “Lord David Trimble will be remembered for a life of public service, and of course for his most significant contribution to the work for peace on our island. But mass violence has not returned either.

David Trimble, the former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader and first-ever Northern Ireland minister, has died aged 77. The party said in a statement that ...

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UUP leader Doug Beattie has led tributes to Lord Trimble, saying his death would cause “deep sadness” throughout Northern Ireland and much further afield.

He was a committed and passionate unionist who always wanted the best for Northern Ireland.” “Over the course of his political career but particularly in difficult years of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations he demonstrated immense courage and took political risks that sustained the life of our fledgling peace process,” he said. “His contribution to the peace process and the ending of violence in our society helped secure his place in history.”

Lord Trimble, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize along with late SDLP leader John Hume, died on Monday following an illness. David Trimble death Former prime ...

“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. “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. “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,” he said.

Ulster Unionist leader won Nobel Peace Prize and served as Northern Ireland's inaugural first minister.

Trimble won the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of conflict.

But at his final public appearance at the end of June, Trimble said the cornerstone of peace remained in place. “They are not saying ‘throw it out’, so that’s the thing to bear in mind.” “David’s contribution to the Good Friday Agreement and to the quarter-century of relative peace that followed cannot be underestimated,” he said. As part of the process established by the Good Friday Agreement, Trimble became the UUP’s first leader in 30 years to meet the Irish premier in Dublin, Ireland and was the first unionist leader since Ireland’s partition to negotiate with Sinn Fein, which was the political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA). Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said Trimble’s regard in his Nobel speech for the “politicians of the possible” summed up the Northern Irishman’s achievements over many decades, often in challenging circumstances that culminated in the “crucial and courageous role” he played in the peace negotiations. Trimble won the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended 30 years of conflict in the territory.

Vanguard held quasi- fascist rallies, flirted with the idea of loyal rebellion to take on the IRA and was passionately opposed to power sharing. Trimble was one ...

Greatly to his credit Trimble never regretted the Agreement although he had plenty to say about its faulty implementation. If the GFA managed to survive the paramilitaries it may yet survive sectarian and inter-communal rivalries. He did not survive as first minister to see the fulfilment of decommissioning in 2005. The cycle of Assembly suspensions began and continues to this day. If, during the course of the first six months of the shadow assembly or the assembly itself, these provisions have been shown to be ineffective, we will support changes to these provisions to enable them to be made properly effective in preventing such people from holding office. For the Agreement did not indeed spell out a timetable for arms decommissioning. All I have asked for is that they say that the “war” is over. The first is that we might dismiss legitimate claims for reform because of the barbarism of terrorist groups bent on revolution. Any further delay will reinforce dark doubts about whether Sinn Fein are drinking from the clear stream of democracy, or is still drinking from the dark stream of fascism. Trimble turned out to be the perfect Nixon goes to China character for what became the peace process. But he was also that rare thing, a unionist politician who was prepared to argue his case in Irish as well as “British Ulster” terms. Vanguard held quasi- fascist rallies, flirted with the idea of loyal rebellion to take on the IRA and was passionately opposed to power sharing.

David Trimble was the Ulster Unionist hardliner, unafraid of flexing his political muscles, who became a moderate, although tough, leader of the party and ...

This was a point made by Mr Trimble in his first speech to the newly formed Assembly after a huge majority of the people of Northern Ireland had voted for peace. But his passion for politics was beginning to override his interest in the law. He was, to some extent, a cynical politician and above all a realist. Once he said: “In politics you never totally trust anybody because you never know what is going to happen. But not long into his leadership he suffered what could have been a severe and long-term setback. However, this accord between the two men was a short-lived affair. In 1998, Lord Trimble secured just 51% of the unionist vote endorsing the agreement. Although his wife Daphne remained involved with the Ulster Unionist Party, as did one of his sons, Nicholas, who is a councillor in Lisburn and Castlereagh. Later, a vote on his own leadership was to be carried by only a marginally bigger margin. Even so, many people saw Lord Trimble as a main obstruction to the peace process getting under way. But it was a view that was to be vindicated later. But at the end of the day, he was praised by all parties and by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, for the courage he had shown in the face of opposition from some unionist colleagues of his.

BBC Northern Ireland political editor Enda McClafferty stated on Twitter: "Lord Trimble has passed away following a short illness, his family has just confirmed ...

Lord Trimble was the unionist who led his party to the negotiating table at Stormont and described the Good Friday Agreement as his greatest achievement. At that time, Seamus Mallon, who was the leader of the SDLP, was Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Lord Trimble was the First Minister of Northern Ireland after the ratification of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Former First Minister Lord Trimble, who passed away yesterday at the age of 77. ... Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date ...

and the wider family circle who will feel his loss deeply. His decisions shaped here, whether you agree with them or not. Also thinking on his UUP colleagues who will be deeply saddened by this news.” “Only had the pleasure of meeting him once. David Trimble was the original First Minister, and served in the post from 1998 until 2001. There is a special place in the history books for him.

The funeral service for former First Minister of Northern Ireland David Trimble will take place in Lisburn on Monday, the Ulster Unionist Party has ...

It was confirmed the recall of the Assembly which was originally scheduled to take place today will now take place in the Assembly Chamber next Wednesday at 12pm. Lord Mayor of the city Tina Black opened the book of condolence in Lord Trimble’s memory, with Derry City and Strabane Mayor Sandra Duffy opening a book in Londonderry’s Guildhall. Lord Trimble passed away at the age of 77 following a short illness and tributes from Northern Ireland and internationally have poured in for the politician who is credited as being the architect for peace in the province.

TRIBUTES have been paid to the “unshakeable” politician and Nobel Peace Laureate, Lord Trimble, who died on Monday, aged 77.

Sir Tony Blair also used the word “immense” to describe the contribution of Lord Trimble to the peace process. “Long before it was customary to think in terms of bridge-building, he grasped the opportunity to see what was possible if the guns could fall silent,” he said. “In the negotiations which led to ceasefires, there was a desperate need to find political structures which would follow and build upon the tentative agreements between the men of violence. He had also a forensic quality of mind and an aptitude for attention to detail which went far beyond the merely lawyerly.” The multi-party agreement brought an end to decades of political conflict and violence in Northern Ireland. He and the then Social Democratic and Labour Party leader, John Hume, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize that year for their work. The path of peacemaker was not easy, the Archbishop said.

Death of Northern Ireland's inaugural first minister inspires rare solidarity as role in ending the Troubles is hailed.

The DUP tone chimed with that of Doug Beattie, the UUP leader. “His enduring desire to protect and promote the union will be his legacy.” The former US president Bill Clinton said Trimble had helped deliver peace.

David Trimble helped end decades of violence in Northern Ireland by shunning his hardline unionist past and negotiating with a former foe in pursuit of a ...

“It’s easy to say yes to them and it’s easy to say no to your opponents, but to say no to your own supporters, that is tough. There were threats to his safety, and ultimately he was replaced by more hard-line politicians who hadn’t supported the peace deal. “The hardest thing in leadership is to say no to your own supporters,” Blair said. "It is a dark sludge of historical sectarianism. “Heaven knows, in Ulster, what I have looked for is a peace within the realms of the possible,” he said. “Time after time during the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement, he made the hard choices over the politically expedient ones because he believed future generations deserved to grow up free from violence and hatred,” former U.S. President Bill Clinton said in a statement.