Lisburn, United Kingdom, Aug 1 (AFP/APP): British and Irish prime ministers and former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on Monday attended the funeral of David Trimble, the Nobel peace prize-winning former first minister of Northern Ireland whose statecraft helped end decades of conflict.
Trimble, a pro-UK unionist politician, was one of the Northern Irish leaders who delivered the landmark Good Friday peace deal in 1998.
His death last Monday aged 77 after a short illness has prompted tributes from across the political spectrum in the province and mainland Britain as well as from around the world.
Mourners joining Trimble’s widow and children for the service in a Presbyterian church in his hometown of Lisburn, southwest of Belfast, included British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
Johnson later tweeted that Trimble’s “principled determination to forge a better future for all marks him out as one of the giants of our history”.
Fiona Forbes, the Presbyterian minister leading the service, said the widespread grief at his death reflected his deep impact on the political landscape and “to the legacy he left all of us”.
She described Trimble as “an academic, a party leader, a peacemaker, a Nobel laureate”, noting he was the first to serve in the role of first minister which was created by the Good Friday Agreement.
The 1998 accords, also referred to as the Belfast Agreement, largely ended the period known as “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland — three decades of sectarian violence in the province that claimed 3,500 lives.
In the same year as the agreements were signed, Trimble was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, alongside pro-Ireland nationalist leader John Hume.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
