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Former Northern Irish Prime Minister David Trimble, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998, has died at the age of 77, his family said on Monday. He led the first power-sharing government to emerge from the Good Friday Peace Agreement, which ended three decades of bloody clashes between Republicans and unionists.
David Trimble, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work of reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics in the British province, died on Monday, July 25 at the age of 77, the Unionist Party announced. from Ulster.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away today after a short illness,” the party said in a statement.
Entering politics in the early 1970s as a member of the paramilitary-affiliated Vanguard Unionist Party, the Protestant lawyer helped shape the Good Friday Peace Agreement with the late Catholic Nobel laureate John Hume, a fourth century later.
David Trimble led the first power-sharing government to emerge from the deal, which ended three decades of bloody fighting between the predominantly Catholic Republicans, who wanted Ireland reunited, and the predominantly Protestant Unionists, who wanted the province to continue to form part of the British Crown.
I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Lord Trimble earlier today. He was a giant of British and international politics and will be long remembered for his intellect, personal bravery and fierce determination to change politics for the better.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 25, 2022
courage and determination
“David Trimble was a man of courage and vision. He decided to take the opportunity of peace when it presented itself and tried to end the decades of violence that plagued his beloved Northern Ireland,” reacted the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Doug Beatty.
Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of the former Northern Irish leader.
“He was a giant of British and international politics and will long be remembered for his intelligence, his personal bravery and his fierce determination to change politics for the better,” the Conservative leader said on Twitter, stating that his “legacy and successes They will never be forgotten by the people of the UK.”
“Very sad news. David Trimble was a leading figure in Northern Irish and British politics,” said British Opposition Leader Keir Starmer.
Brexiteer
David Trimble joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UPP) in 1978, after a stint with the Vanguard extremists, and became its leader in 1995, five years into his first term as London MP.
In the autumn of 1997, after the ceasefire of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), he was the first Unionist leader to enter into dialogue with the republicans of Sinn Féin, the political arm of the IRA.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 along with former Catholic leader John Hume, in recognition of “their efforts to find a peaceful solution” to clashes that left more than 3,500 dead.
Sinn Féin Deputy Leader Michelle O’Neill also sent her condolences to the family of David Trimble. “His very important contribution to the peace process and his courage in helping to achieve the Good Friday Agreement leaves a legacy a quarter of a century later that he and his family can be proud of,” she tweeted.
A supporter of Brexit, he had last year attacked the Northern Ireland Protocol, questioning the legality of the agreement that is supposed to govern relations between the British province and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union.
*With AFP; adapted from its original French version
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