Political leaders and other dignitaries joined family and friends of former UUP leader David Trimble for his funeral service today.
The 77-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner died last week following an illness.
Rev Dr Charles McMullen told the funeral service that the actions of Lord Trimble had allowed a generation in Northern Ireland to grow up in “relative peace”.
Delivering a tribute at the service, he said: “Alongside others, he rose to seemingly impossible challenges with considerable strength of character, intellectual acumen, and complete integrity.
“The reward for all of us has been a radically changed landscape here in Northern Ireland, which has saved many lives and allowed a generation to grow up in relative peace.
“As so many have said over these past few days, history will be exceedingly kind to David even if life brought many unrelenting pressures and demands.”
Dr McMullen added: “He was a committed family man and as I have sat with Daphne, his daughters Victoria and Sarah, sons Richard and Nicholas over these past few days I have been deeply touched and moved by so many stories, all of which underlined how dearly loved he was by them.
“They gave him to us and we want to take this opportunity to express our deepest appreciation to them.”
Rev Charles McMullen told the funeral service how the Omagh bombing doubled the determination of Lord Trimble to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.
He said: “As first minister, David had to cut short a family holiday in order to get home to visit Omagh in the aftermath of that terrible bombing which killed so many, an experience that left him utterly devastated but doubled his determination to keep building bridges and working for peace.
“I can remember bumping into him days after the conclusion of the Good Friday Agreement and hearing how afterwards on his way home he had gone to a hole in the wall but could not remember his pin number.
“That was an indication of being under almost unbearable stress, but then he always had the courage of his convictions and was prepared to pay the cost.”
Rev Charles McMullen said he hoped the funeral service could be used as an inspiration to redouble efforts to resolve political differences in Northern Ireland.
Referencing Lord Trimble’s Nobel Peace Prize winning speech in 1998, he told the funeral service: “In that speech, David made this inspiring comment. ‘The dark shadow we seem to see in the distance is not really a mountain ahead, but the shadow of the mountain behind – a shadow from the past thrown forward into our future. It is a dark sludge of historical sectarianism. We can leave it behind us if we wish. But both communities must leave it behind, because both created it’.
“It is a very powerful quotation because it reminds us of the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement in placing the principle of consent at the centre of our politics and ultimately removing the gun.
“It reminds us also that although we are on a journey from the past, the mountain still casts a shadow and we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, recovering sectarians.
“Can we use this service today, in a fitting tribute to one of the great, to redouble our efforts on this island home of ours?
“With courage, pragmatism and generosity of spirit may our politicians engage wholeheartedly in resolving the outstanding issues surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol, so that our democratic institutions are quickly restored and we can all move forward together.”
Conservative peer Lord Godson said Lord Trimble was the “most substantial figure thrown up by unionism” since the foundation of Northern Ireland in 1921.
He told his funeral service: “The distinguished congregation gathered here today in this church, at short notice in August, is proof-positive that the title of David’s biography Himself Alone is in some urgent need of revision for David has never been less alone.
“In death he is finally being afforded the respect and love from all communities on this island that he deserves, and did not always receive in the height of his powers.”
Lord Trimble’s widow, Lady Daphne, took her place in the front row as the coffin was carried into the church by their sons and daughters at the start of the service.
Minister Rev Fiona Forbes welcomed mourners to the service.
Members of the public gathered outside the church to pay their respects.
Rev Fiona Forbes told the funeral service: “On behalf of the Trimble family circle and Harmony Hill Presbyterian Church I welcome you to this service of thanksgiving for the life of William David Trimble.
“The array of those who have gathered today to pay their respects bears witness not only to David’s impact on the political landscape of which he was so much a part, but also to the imprints he left upon the same, and to the legacy he left all of us.
“Of course, we come to remember an academic, a party leader, a peacemaker, a Nobel laureate, the first to serve in the role of first minister in the new Northern Ireland Executive established as part of the Good Friday Agreement.
“But we also come to remember a husband, father, and grandfather, a brother, brother-in-law and uncle, a colleague, a committed member of this church family, and a friend.”
Lord Trimble’s eldest son Richard thanked the public for their sympathies and kind words following the death of his father.
He told the funeral service in Lisburn: “On behalf of the family we would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s expressed their sympathies and their kind words.”
Mr Trimble and his sister Victoria then delivered Bible readings.
The peer and former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party played a key role in forging the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement that ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Months after the deal was signed, Lord Trimble, from Co Down, was jointly awarded the Nobel prize with late SDLP leader John Hume in recognition of their efforts to stop the bloodshed and establish a powersharing system of devolved governance in the north.
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said David Trimble's legacy was peace in Northern Ireland.
Speaking after the funeral service, Mr Beattie said: "Lord Trimble was a giant in Northern Ireland politics. A man of vision, a man of courage, a man who took decisions when they were difficult to take and people are alive today because of them.
"It is a shame at times that we talk about people like this at death, when it would be so much nicer if we were able to talk about this vision that he had in life.
"Today there was a moving ceremony for the family to say goodbye because, of all else, David Trimble was a husband, a father, a grandfather and a brother, and we have to remember that human side of him and that frailty in a man that we all have in ourselves.
"The place will be a lesser place for David's passing."
Mr Beattie added: "His legacy is easy to quantify, it is peace in Northern Ireland, it is a less divided, less sectarian society.
"We are sorry for his loss but we will remember his legacy in the many months and years to come."
President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and British prime minister Boris Johnson, were among those attending the funeral at Harmony Hill Presbyterian Church in Lisburn this afternoon.
Political leaders from Stormont are also present for the service.
Tomorrow, the Stormont Assembly will reconvene for a special sitting to pay tribute to Lord Trimble.
The institutions are currently on ice, with the DUP blocking the creation of a powersharing administration in protest at Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.
Last week books of condolence for the veteran politician were opened in several cities and towns across Northern Ireland.
Paying tribute, Boris Johnson described Lord Trimble as a “giant of British and international politics” while Mr Martin credited his “central contribution” in efforts to achieve reconciliation on the island of Ireland.
Former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, both of whom were involved in the Good Friday negotiations, also hailed his peacebuilding legacy.
Sir Tony said his contribution was “immense, unforgettable and frankly irreplaceable” while Mr Ahern described him as a “courageous” leader.
Ex-Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams, a once bitter political adversary of the unionist, thanked him for helping to get the Good Friday Agreement over the line.
Lord Trimble is survived by his wife Lady Daphne Trimble and the couple’s four children.
