Northern Irish leader David Trimble dies

International

-DW News

Belfast,
Jul
26:
David
Trimble,
one
of
the
chief
architects
of
Northern
Ireland’s
1998
Good
Friday
Agreement,
has
died
aged
77.

He
won
a
Nobel
Prize
for
his
efforts
and
became
Northern
Irish
first
minister
following
the
peace
deal.

“It
is
with
great
sadness
that
the
family
of
Lord
Trimble
announce
that
he
passed
away
peacefully
earlier
today
following
a
short
illness,”
his
Ulster
Unionist
Party
(UUP)
said
in
a
statement.

Nobel
Prize
for
role
in
Good
Friday
Agreement

The
Good
Friday
Agreement
helped
bring
peace
to
the
region
following
30
years
of
ethno-nationalist
violence
that
killed
almost
3,600
people.

Ireland
to
increase
corporate
tax
rate
to
15%

Trimble
and
Irish
nationalist
John
Hume
jointly
received
the
Nobel
Prize
in
1998.

They
were
recognized
for
their
roles
in
helping
end
the
violence
between
Catholic
nationalists
seeking
Irish
unity
and
pro-British
Protestants
wishing
to
stay
in
the
United
Kingdom.
The
peace
agreement
brought
an
end
to
decades
of
violence
known
as
the
“Troubles.”

Legacy
remembered

Irish
Prime
Minister
Micheal
Martin
remembered
the
“crucial
and
courageous
role”
Trimble
played
in
the
peace
negotiations,
while
British
Prime
Minister
Boris
Johnson
called
him
a
“giant
of
British
and
international
politics”,

“Time
after
time
during
the
negotiations
he
made
the
hard
choices
over
the
politically
expedient
ones
because
he
believed
future
generations
deserved
to
grow
up
free
from
violence
and
hatred,”
former
US
President
Bill
Clinton
said
in
a
statement.

Ex-Sinn
Fein
leader
Gerry
Adams
said
Trimble’s
contribution
to
almost
25
years
of
relative
peace
“cannot
be
underestimated.”

“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,”
Adams,
a
former
political
foe
of
Trimble,
said
in
a
statement.

British
Prime
Minister
Boris
Johnson
described
Trimble
as
a
“giant
of
British
and
international
politics.”

Tensions
in
Northern
Ireland

Trimble’s
death
comes
at
a
time
of
renewed
tensions
in
Northern
Ireland.

The
Irish
nationalist
party,
Sinn
Fein,
swept
to
a
historic
victory
in
assembly
elections
in
May.

However,
the
Democratic
Unionist
Party
(DUP)
has
refused
to
help
form
a
government
until
a
protocol,
which
governs
trade
in
Northern
Ireland
in
the
wake
of
the
UK
leaving
the
EU,
is
removed.
They
are
fully
behind
any
move
by
the
UK
government
which
would
override
the
protocol.

Source: DW