David Trimble has died

magicbastarder

https://news.sky.com/story/former-first-minister-of-northern-ireland-david-trimble-has-died-12643789

..

Akabusi

RIP - was a good person and played his part in the GFA

TheValeyard

Jesus OP you could at least say something rather than just link dump.

I think history will be good to him. The man was willing to take a leap of faith with Sinn Fein and the Good Friday agreement. Cost him his seat in the end. But no doubt he helped bring about the relative peace we have in Northern Ireland today. He deserves his place in history.

Only 77, not exactly young, but not that old either.

asdfg87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058256039/david-trimble-has-died

A man who had the courage to tell his own people "you are wrong"

enricoh

I know they got sod all thanks for it electorally, but him n John Hume probably saved scores of lives - fair play to them.

FrancieBrady

Gained my respect for being one of the peace makers although like Arlene he seemed to get more extreme after retirement. RIP David.

Spanish Eyes

I have always had a good feeling about him in the overall pantheon of NI politics. May he rest in peace, he helped bring peace.

This pic taken recently shows how gaunt he had become. Am I the only one who thinks that the portrait bears little or no resemblance to him?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/david-trimble-tony-blair-people-the-assembly-first-minister-b2110549.html

banie01

Trimble's effort to grasp the nettle and to at least try peace will be remembered long after his successors are forgotten.

Contributed hugely to peace in Ireland and was discarded by his own because of it.

Furze99

Sorry to hear that and may he rest in peace. No one is without fault but he was overall a man willing and prepared to lead in a constructive direction.

It's a pity the likes of David T & John H etc and their respective parties were subsequently sidelined by the hardliners on both sides.

batman75

Trimble walking down the Garvaghy road with Paisley must be one of the most iconic images of the past 100 years in Northern Ireland. He and Hume deserved their Nobel peace prize. I think the Garvaghy Road incident was triumphalism at it's worst but on the whole he was a force for good in Northern Ireland and I think history will be kind to him.

magicbastarder

i know a few people up north (northern catholics, not exactly nationalists) who gave him credit in hindsight for the whole garvaghy road drama; saying that without having done that, he would not have had the clout within the unionist community to actually manage to get the peace process across the line.

buried

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam

brokenangel

Hume and Trimble are the main reasons for the GFA and peace process

RIP

L1011

That's pretty much all the NI leaders of the time gone, except Adams. Trimble, Paisley, Hume, Mallon, Alderdice, Ervine. Only Ervine was particularly young I think, but its not even 25 years ago now.

Mo Mowlam from the London side also.

mazdamiatamx5

RIP. One of the architects of the peace process, along with Albert Reynolds, John Major, John Hume and to be fair Tony Blair.

PropJoe10

A good man. Contributed a huge amount to bringing peace to NI, along with John Hume.

RIP.

padd b1975

Not exactly a warm individual, but you can't but acknowledge his political courage.

RIP.

XLR 8

I often wondered what had become of him. He was and should be remembered as an architect of peace. May he now rest in peace.

Eduard Khil

Stood up to Maggie Thatcher more than once RIP

God Rest Him

igCorcaigh

I can recall when he was elected as leader of the UUP. There was a sense of fear in the South, as he was seen as a Unionist hardliner. He always struck me as an intelligent and sensible man.

RIP David, history will remember you well.

Charles Babbage

Enough of a hardliner to be accepted as a leader, he had the courage to do what had to be done in 1998. I never understood how he could work to wreck his own agreement with his stance on Brexit.

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119386645#Comment_119386645

David Ervine too stood out as a sensible character who would have been valuable in resolving the problem.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119387052#Comment_119387052

Point of order: Seamus Mallon was not a leader. He was only ever a deputy leader of the SDLP

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119387756#Comment_119387756

Served as DFM.

McGuinness who was DFM later on has also died of course.

Cluedo Monopoly

Helped bring peace to the island. RIP.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119386596#Comment_119386596

Looks so different

RIP

PTH2009

RIP to him

Didn't he insult the country back in the 90s ?

Xander10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390149#Comment_119390149

Which country?

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119390393#Comment_119390393

Ourselves (Ireland)

Vaguely remember it was a few weeks before he got an honour of some sort in Waterford

Mrcaramelchoc

God rest him but the worst thing about him dying is bertie gets more airtime and print space. The rat.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119387783#Comment_119387783

And John Alderdice is still alive.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399213#Comment_119399213

I was convinced he'd died. Who did die that I got confused with I wonder.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119399213#Comment_119399213

I've remembered who I'd accidentally merge him with - Ashdown. Lib Dem Lord, NI connected, surname starts with A.... my internal filing system is clearly a bit weird.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119386683#Comment_119386683

He was despised by orange as much as green for most of his term as UUP leader so must have done something right, an unlikeable man ,not a people person, still, the North is not the worse for him having been involved in it's politics

Had real moral courage

asdfg87

He had integrity for me, i seen a few dodgy ones at his funeral, some of them belonged to us...