Tributes Pour in for David Trimble, Key Figure in Northern Ireland Peace Process

David Trimble reflects on the Good Friday Agreement at his home in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on April 8, 2018. (Nial Carson/PA Media)

British, Irish, and American political leaders of the past and present have paid tribute to David Trimble, a key figure in the peace process in Northern Ireland, who died on July 25 at the age of 77 following a short illness.

The former first minister of Northern Ireland and former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) was one of the principal architects of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement that ended decades of conflict in the region.

He jointly won the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize along with John Hume, late leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

‘A Giant’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Lord Trimble’s achievements would never be forgotten.

“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.

Micheal Martin, prime minister of the Republic of Ireland, praised Trimble’s “central contribution” to peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland.

“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.

Former UK and Irish prime ministers Sir Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, both of whom were involved in the Good Friday negotiations, also paid tribute.

Blair said his contribution was “immense, unforgettable, and frankly irreplaceable” while Ahern described him as a “courageous” leader.

Ex-Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, a once bitter political adversary of the unionist leader, thanked him for helping to get the Good Friday Agreement over the line in 1998.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the United States is “saddened” by Trimble’s death.

“Lord Trimble personified the integrity and compromise necessary to help Northern Ireland transcend its violent past,” he said.

Inspiration for Today

Trimble’s death comes amid another political crisis in the British province, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) blocking the creation of a power-sharing administration in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Brexit treaty.

The protocol, which Boris Johnson signed in 2019, includes measures aimed at preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland, which have been fiercely opposed by unionists, who complain that it effectively keeps Northern Ireland within the E.U. single market while erecting a border in the Irish Sea between the province and mainland Britain.

As a result of the DUP boycott, Northern Ireland has not had a functioning local government since February.

Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s leader in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the current generation of Northern Irish politicians should draw inspiration from Trimble.

“I think that none of us should underestimate what was achieved back in 1998 and David Trimble had the courage to step forward in his leadership role, to bring people with him, to work with others,” she said.

“I think that should be a message to us all even today, 24 years later. It takes courage. It takes leadership. It takes parties working together actually to achieve things and we need that same determination today as we had back in 1998.”

PA Media contributed to this report.