Former first minister David Trimble has died, the UUP has announced.
Mr Trimble (77) led the party from 1995 to 2005, including the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 which saw him win the Nobel Peace Prize alongside SDLP leader John Hume.
Since 2006, he sat in the House of Lords as Baron Trimble of Lisnagarvey.
In a statement, the UUP said: "It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness."
Current party leader Doug Beattie described Mr Trimble as a "political giant".
#LordTrimble - A political giant, a courageous politician, a staunch unionist and a friend. pic.twitter.com/RTVWUAWExe
— Doug Beattie (@BeattieDoug) July 25, 2022
The Co Down man 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 which 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.
“That is there.
“People are actually not throwing the agreement to pieces, their complaints are still based on the existence of the agreement.
“They are not saying ‘throw it out’, so that’s the thing to bear in mind.”
He was also sharply critical of the UK government over Brexit trade arrangements.
DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “Whilst our political paths parted within the Ulster Unionist Party, there can be no doubting his bravery and determination in leadership at that time. He was a committed and passionate unionist who always wanted the best for Northern Ireland.
“Right until recent days David continued to use his political skill and intellect, most recently in support of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union and in opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“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. He leaves a huge and lasting legacy to Northern Ireland. He can undoubtedly be said to have shaped history in our country.”
Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams expressed his “deep regret”.
He said “David faced huge challenges when he led the Ulster Unionist Party in the Good Friday Agreement negotiations and persuaded his party to sign on for it. It is to his credit that he supported that Agreement. I thank him for that.
“In the years immediately following the Agreement I met David many times. Our conversations were not always easy but we made progress. We used to meet quite often on our own and I got to know him quite well. While we held fundamentally different political opinions on the way forward nonetheless I believe he was committed to making the peace process work.
“David’s contribution to the Good Friday Agreement and to the quarter century of relative peace that followed cannot be underestimated. 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. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis”.
TUV leader Jim Allister said: “I am greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Lord David Trimble and wish to express to Lady Trimble and the family sincere condolences.
“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.
“David had a very clear and correct view of the dangers and unacceptability of the Protocol.
“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. So, in losing David, Daphne has suffered a great loss and Northern Ireland has lost a foremost thinker within unionism.”
Mr Beattie said his death would cause “deep sadness” throughout Northern Ireland and much further afield.
“David Trimble was 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 will forever be associated with the leadership he demonstrated in the negotiations that led up to the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
“The bravery and courage he demonstrated whilst battling his recent illness was typical of the qualities he showed in his political career, at Stormont and at Westminster.
“He will be remembered as a First Minister, as a peer of the realm and as a Nobel Prize winner. He will also be remembered as a great Unionist.
“On behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party, and with a very heavy heart, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Lady Trimble and his children, Richard, Victoria, Sarah and Nicholas.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “Very sad news. David Trimble was a towering figure of Northern Ireland and British politics as one of the key authors of the Good Friday Agreement, the first First Minister and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. My thoughts are with Lady Trimble and their family.”
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood added: “He doesn’t often enough get credit for it but without David Trimble’s fortitude, there would simply have been no agreement.
“The image of David and Seamus Mallon walking through Poyntzpass together in 1998 to comfort the families of Damien Trainor and Philip Allen is an enduring icon of the peace process that inspired a whole generation of people who wanted, and needed, to believe that our shared future could be different from our divided past.
“It is my enduring memory of his commitment to reconciliation.
“My thoughts and prayers are with Daphne, Richard, Victoria, Nicholas and Sarah at this difficult time. I hope they are comforted by the immense legacy that David left to the people of Northern Ireland.”
Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill tweeted: “It is with genuine regret that I have learned of the passing of former first minister, David Trimble.
“I wish to offer my sincere condolences to his wife Daphne, their four children and the wider family circle who will feel his loss deeply.
“His very significant contribution to the peace process and his courage in helping achieve the Good Friday Agreement leaves a legacy a quarter century on for which he and his family should be rightly proud.”
