David Trimble, former Prime Minister and architect of the 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Agreement, has died

One of Northern Ireland’s fathers of peace died. Lord David TrimblePrime Minister of the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland and co-author of the Good Friday Agreement, He died on Monday at the age of 77..

He had been appointed, along with the Catholic nationalist John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 to help end a 30-year religious civil war between Protestants and Catholics, killing over 3,000.

“It is with great sadness that Lord Trimble’s family announces that he died peacefully today after a short illness,” the statement read.

His stance hard in the Orange Order parades, marches through Catholic neighborhoods with Protestant banners that revered King William, the Orange, and was at the center of the dispute between Republicans and Protestants in the streets of Northern Ireland in the 90’s, earned him the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party.

A brave politician

But David Trimble was the politician who dared to compromise and he brought his share to the negotiating table in Stormont.

These have been extremely difficult days. The IRA, the Irish Republican Army, had offered a ceasefire and negotiation of eventual disarmament. The Protestant militias resisted. There was no mutual trust and Ulster was a powder keg.

President Bill Clinton mediated along with Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair, on a mission inherited from a Conservative Prime Minister John Major.

David Trimble had to step in front of the protesters, separated from the extremism of Ian Paisley, the Reverend Democratic Protestant Unionist, who boycotted all negotiations, until he ended up being premier along with Martin McGuinness in the Belfast legislature.

“I think history will remember him as a politician who, in a really difficult time, when we were trying to end 30 years of violence, despite everything, he got up and put his name on that chord. “ Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) and one of the protagonists of that agreement signed in Belfast, recalled it on an endless snowy early morning.

Discreet, shy, unionist member of the House of Commons and ruthless in negotiations, he was the first person to be elected Prime Minister of Northern Irelandholding the position from 1998 to 2002.

“It’s your turn, Mr. Adams”

But the rise of Sinn Fein before the IRA withdrew its weapons forced it to take another leap of faith.

“We did our part,” he said in November 1999, “Mr Adams, it’s your turn. We jumped, you agree,” he told Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army. (IRA) and one of its guerrillas, and now the protagonist of the peace agreement. It was the peace of the tough.

David Kerr was David Trimble’s press officer during those tumultuous days in Stormont politics and knew him better than others.

“I think history will be kind to David Trimble. When historians look back objectively, with a broader perspective on the time frame of things that happened before and after. Good Friday AgreementI think they will understand the fundamental role it has played in transforming politics here, “he said.

His restraint produced the unionists’ wrath against the agreement. Eventually he lost his seat in Upper Bann in Westminster to the Democratic Unionist Party, the Paisley ultras.

The reason was simple: Ian Paisley’s DUP criticized him for agreeing with Sinn Fein when the IRA had not surrendered their weapons.

Elevated to Lord, David Trimble never expressed regret for the compromise and described the Good Friday Agreement as his crowning glory.

Tea with Lord David

Sharing tea at 5pm with David Trimble at his home in Northern Ireland was an unforgettable experience. These were the first days of negotiations. There was Daphne, his second wife, and her finest china on the table, the scones, the cream, the marmalade, the perfect blend, to explain to a foreigner that she had spent the day before with Martin McGuinnes, former boss. of the IRA and who ended up being Deputy Prime Minister, a source of hatred.

He asked about the war of Malvinas, of Galtieri and their reasons and whether the Argentines hated the British.

“You understand?” asked Patrice de Beer, the correspondent le Monde in Great Britain and companion of adventure in this war of religion in the middle of Europe. “It is unexplained how such lovely people cannot agree and hate their Catholic neighbor”, He reflected.

He was born in Bangor in 1944 and studied at Queen University, where he had been a great academic. He started acting in politics in 1970 in an extremist group called the Vanguard Party and later became a pacifist.

In a recent interview for SkyNewsDavid Trimble said: “That was the first time we had an agreement within the political parties of Northern Ireland that was accepted by all of them.” It created a situation where we could move forward in a context where there could be disagreement. “

lasting peace

Lawyer, academic and statesman David Trimble will be remembered for his ability to see what others couldn’t see: the potential for lasting peace.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labor leader, tweeted. “Very sad news. David Trimble was an important figure in Northern Ireland politics and the British, and one of the key authors of the Good Friday Agreement, Prime Minister and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. My thoughts are with Lady Trimble and her family, ”she wrote.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, the historical enemy, said she felt “sad” at his death. “Your contribution to building the peace process in Ireland It will be his proud and living legacy of his political life “. he wrote.

France has rewarded her work for peace. In a ceremony in Paris he was declared an officer of the Legion of Honor and later received the Golden Silver Award in the United States.

Trinity College Dublin has named him honorary patron of the University Philosophical Society. A gesture of peace and reconciliation. In 2007 he joined the Conservative Party in Great Britain.

Trimble has evolved with peace in Northern Ireland. From a unionist conservative who agreed to let his gay daughter marry his girlfriend in 2017. Richard, Nicholas and Sarah also survive, a statesman has died, a brave man who risked his reputation and political career to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.

PB