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| Affiliation | Conservative |
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| Name | David Trimble |
| Address |
, , Northern Ireland |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 15, 1944
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| Died | July 25, 2022
(77 years)
|
| Contributor | Some say... |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Oct 15, 2023 06:39pm |
| Tags |
Protestant -
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| Info | Formerly a law lecturer at Queen's University in Belfast, David Trimble became MP for Upper Bann at a by-election in 1990. Previously, he had attracted most attention for his role in negotiating an ultimately unsuccessful unionist-nationalist political agreement in 1975.
Just five years later and at a comparatively young age he succeeded James Molyneaux as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, the largest party in Northern Ireland. He established himself quickly and led Unionism into engagement with the United States and the British Labour Party. He was the first Unionist leader to meet an Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in a generation. James Molyneaux had resigned following the publication of the Framework Documents, a joint British-Irish outline for a political settlement which Unionists felt were programmed towards eventual political unification with the Irish Republic.
Trimble managed to secure the election of negotiators to multi-party political talks. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, were excluded from the talks as the IRA was not observing a ceasefire. The talks made little progress until after the 1997 general election in the UK which saw the Labour Party come to office after 18 years in opposition. Sinn Fein/IRA, believing that Labour would be more sympathetic to their cause, reinstated their ceasefire and were admitted to the talks. This caused two of the three major Unionist parties to withdraw but Trimble led his UUP back into negotiations.
The result, reached on Good Friday, 10th April 1998, was the Belfast Agreement. This Agreement provided for power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in a devolved parliament, cross-border cooperation between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic and a new British-Irish relationship. There was also to be the voluntary disarmament of terrorist organisations, new equality and human rights provisions, police reform and the release of paramilitary prisoners belonging to terrorist groups observing a ceasefire. The Agreement was endorsed by almost all nationalists and a slender majority of unionists.
Following elections to the new Assembly, Trimble was elected First Minister with a nationalist as his Deputy First Minister. Full powers were not devolved until 1999 though because the IRA refused to begin disarming. Trimble persuaded his party to set up the new administration - which includes two Sinn Fein Ministers - on a time-limited basis. When Sinn Fein/IRA refused to disarm, Trimble persuaded the British Government to suspend the Assembly. The Assembly was reinstated when a new agreement was reached and Sinn Fein/IRA promised to keep to their obligations.
Again, though, they did not keep to their promises and Trimble was forced to resign as First Minister in July 2001. If he had not resigned, his position politically with the Unionist community would have become untenable. The UUP only just managed to preserve its dominant position in the UK general election of May 2001. Rather than see the Agreement founder, Sinn Fein/IRA finally decided to begin disarming under the auspices of an international commission led by Canadian, General John de Chastelain. Trimble resumed his position as First Minister. He held that position until October 2002 when the Assembly was suspended due to continuing IRA activity.
David Trimble's contribution to peace and political progress in Northern Ireland has been recognised at home and abroad. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 alongside John Hume of the nationalist SDLP. He has also been named Parliamentarian of the Year by his peers in the British House of Commons and Statesman of the Year by the British media. He has also been conferred with several honorary doctorates by UK and American universities.
He lives near Belfast with his wife Daphne and their two sons and two daughters.
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