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David Trimble, the Nobel peace prize-winning former first minister of Northern Ireland whose statecraft helped end decades of conflict, died Monday aged 77, his party announced.
Trimble, a key architect of the landmark 1998 peace deal in the troubled UK province, won the prize along with pro-Irish leader John Hume that year after the pair sealed the historic agreement.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness,” the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said in a statement.
No further details were provided about his death.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Trimble as a “‘giant of British and international politics”.
He “will be long remembered for his intellect, personal bravery and fierce determination to change politics for the better”, Johnson tweeted.
Irish premier Micheal Martin hailed the Nobel prize winner as “someone who played a crucial and courageous role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland”.
“All of us in politics at the time witnessed his crucial and courageous role in the negotiations leading to the (1998) Good Friday Agreement and his leadership in building support in his party and his community for the agreement,” he added.
Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill, in line to be Northern Ireland’s next first minister after her nationalist party swept to a historic victory in assembly elections in May, lauded Trimble’s “very significant contribution to the peace process”.
“His courage in helping achieve the Good Friday Agreement leaves a legacy a quarter-century on for which he and his family should be rightly proud,” she added.
Trimble’s death comes at a time of renewed tensions in Northern Ireland with the now-dominant pro-UK force, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), refusing to serve…
Source : france24
