William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, (15 October 1944 – 25 July 2022) was a Northern Irish politician who was the inaugural First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002 and leader of the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it l ...

(UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was also Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann from

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

(MLA) for Upper Bann from 1998 to

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Trimble began his career teaching law at

The Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is St ...

in the 1970s, during which time he began to get involved with the paramilitary-linked

Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a Unionism in Ireland, unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1978. Led by William Craig (Northern Ireland politician), ...

(VPUP). He was elected to the

Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (NICC) was an elected body set up in 1975 by the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour government of Harold Wilson as an attempt to deal with constitutional issues surrounding the status of N ...

in 1975 and joined the UUP in 1978 after the VPUP disbanded. Remaining at Queen's University, he continued his academic career until being elected as the MP for Upper Bann in 1990. In 1995 he was unexpectedly elected as the leader of the UUP. He was instrumental in the negotiations that led to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...

in 1998 and (along with

John Hume John Hume (18 January 19373 August 2020) was an Irish nationalist politician in Northern Ireland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Hume served in the Parliament of Northern Irel ...

) won the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

that year for his efforts. He was later elected to become the first First Minister of Northern Ireland, although his tenure was turbulent and frequently interrupted by disagreements over the timetable for

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

decommissioning. Trimble resigned the leadership of the UUP soon after being defeated at the 2005 general election. In June 2006, he accepted a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

age in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, taking the title of ''Baron Trimble'', ''of

Lisnagarvey Lisnagarvey or Lisnagarvy ()Placenames NI
is a

in the County of Antrim''. He did not stand again for the Assembly, which finally reconvened in 2007, instead leaving the UUP to join the Conservative Party.

Early life and education

Trimble was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

on 15 October 1944. He was the son of William and Ivy Trimble, lower-middle class

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

s who lived in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

. He attended Bangor Grammar School from 1956 to 1963. He then studied at

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

(QUB) from 1964 to 1968, where he was awarded the McKane Medal for Jurisprudence. He received a

first class honours degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

(the first at Queen's in three years), becoming a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LL.B). Trimble's paternal grandfather George was born in Easkey,

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

, to parents William Trimble and Mary Burns.

Early career

Academic career

Trimble qualified as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in 1969. He began that year as a Queen's University of Belfast lecturer, subsequently becoming Assistant Dean of the law faculty from 1973 to 1975, a senior lecturer in 1977 and head of Commercial and Property Law from 1981 to 1989. He resigned from the university in 1990 when he was elected to Parliament. In 1983, as he sat in his office at the university, he heard gunshots which turned out to be those of the IRA killers of

Edgar Graham Edgar Samuel David Graham, MPA, BL (24 February 1954 – 7 December 1983) was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and academic from Northern Ireland. He was regarded as a rising star of both legal studies and Unionism and a possible fu ...

, a friend and fellow law lecturer. He was asked to identify the body. In 1994 he was told by the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

that he had been targeted for assassination.

Political career

Trimble became involved with the right-wing, paramilitary-linked

Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party The Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (VUPP), informally known as Ulster Vanguard, was a unionist political party which existed in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1978. Led by William Craig, the party emerged from a split in the Ulster Un ...

(known as Vanguard) in the early 1970s. He ran unsuccessfully for the party in the 1973 Assembly election for North Down, coming last. In 1974, he was a legal adviser to the Ulster Workers' Council during the successful UWC strike against the

Sunningdale Agreement The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The agreement was signed by the British and Irish government in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1 ...

. Trimble was elected to the

in 1975 as a Vanguard member for Belfast South and, for a time, served as the party's joint deputy leader, along with the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

's Glenn Barr. The party had been established by Bill Craig to oppose sharing power with Irish Nationalists and to prevent closer ties with the Republic of Ireland; however, Trimble was one of those to back Craig when the party split over Craig's proposal to allow voluntary power sharing with the SDLP. Trimble joined the mainstream

(UUP) in 1978 after Vanguard disbanded and was elected one of the four party secretaries. He served as vice chairman of the Lagan Valley Unionist Association from 1983 to 1985 and was named chairman in 1985. He served as chairman of the UUP Legal Committee from 1989 to 1995 and as honorary secretary of the Ulster Unionist Council in 1990–96. Trimble was elected to Parliament with 58% of the vote in a by-election in Upper Bann in 1990. He was one of the few British politicians who urged support for the government of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

during the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

in the 1990s.

Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party

President Bill Clinton with David Trimble

On 8 September 1995, Trimble unexpectedly won election as leader of the UUP, defeating the front-runner John Taylor and three other candidates. Trimble's election as Leader came in the aftermath of his role in the

Drumcree conflict The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is a dispute over yearly Parades in Northern Ireland, parades in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The town is mainly Ulster Protestants, Protestant and hosts numerous Protestant marches each s ...

, in which he led a controversial 1995

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

Protestant march, amidst Nationalist protest, down the predominantly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

Garvaghy Road in

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

, County Armagh. Trimble and

Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...

(DUP) leader

Ian Paisley Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, (6 April 1926 – 12 September 2014) was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and ...

walked hand-in-hand as the march, banned since 1997, proceeded down the road. Many

Irish Catholics Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

viewed it as insensitive, while many Protestants felt that it was a sign that Trimble was defending them. Shortly after the election, Trimble became the first UUP Leader in 30 years (since

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, Privy Council of Northern Ireland, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). ...

) to meet with the

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

in Dublin. In 1997, he became the first unionist leader since the

partition of Ireland The Partition of Ireland () was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland (the area today known as the R ...

in 1921 to agree to negotiate with

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

. In the subsequent All-Party negotiations, Trimble led the UUP delegation and sat at the table with Sinn Féin, though in the eight months of the negotiations he never spoke directly to their leader,

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams (; born 6 October 1948) is a retired Irish Republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 19 ...

. Trimble at first opposed the appointment of former US Senator George Mitchell as the chairman of the all-party talks, but eventually accepted him. The talks were successful, culminating in the

of 10 April 1998, which resulted in power-sharing with Nationalists. Trimble was subsequently seen as instrumental in getting his party to accept the accord. On 22 May 1998, voters in Northern Ireland approved the agreement, with 71 per cent in favour. Trimble was appointed to the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are curre ...

in the

1998 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1998 for the United Kingdom, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis were announced on 30 December 1997 ...

First Minister of Northern Ireland

Trimble was elected on 25 June 1998 as a

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ; ) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries o ...

for Upper Bann. He was elected First Minister of Northern Ireland on 1 July 1998. Arguments over the extent of

decommissioning led to repeated disruptions during Trimble's tenure as First Minister. In particular: * The office of First Minister was suspended from 11 February 2000 to 30 May 2000. During this time, Trimble attempted to reassure party members who were sceptical of the post-Good Friday Agreement institutions, saying, "Unionists won the war... The Agreement gave unionism the opportunity to take control of Northern Ireland's constitutional future and to take a major stake in the government of our country... Does anyone really think

wanted this?". * Trimble resigned as First Minister on 1 July 2001 due to the continuing impasse arising from the IRA's refusal of his demands that it decommission its arms, as per the commitments all parties had signed up to in section 7 pt. 3 (page 25) of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement but he was re-elected on 5 November 2001 * The Assembly was suspended from 14 October 2002 until 2007 due to accusations of an IRA spy ring being operated there (the so-called

Stormontgate Stormontgate was the controversy surrounding an alleged Provisional Irish Republican Army spy ring and intelligence-gathering operation based in Stormont, the parliament building of Northern Ireland. The term was coined in October 2002 after t ...

Affair), which Trimble described as ten times worse than

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

. In 1998,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

announced a new judicial inquiry, the

Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, also known as the Saville Inquiry or the Saville Report after its chairman, Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair after campaigns for a second inquiry by families of ...

, into the killing of 13 unarmed civil rights marchers in Derry in 1972. A previous investigation, the

Widgery Tribunal John Passmore Widgery, Baron Widgery, (24 July 1911 – 26 July 1981) was an English judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1971 to 1980. He is principally noted for presiding over the Widgery Tribunal on the events of Bloody ...

, into the same event had been discredited. During the debate in the House of Commons, Trimble was one of few dissenting voices. He said: "I am sorry to have to say to the Prime Minister that I think that the hope expressed by the Honourable Member for Foyle that this will be part of the healing process is likely to be misplaced. Opening old wounds like this is likely to do more harm than good. The basic facts of the situation are known and not open to dispute." Reporting in 2010, the Saville Inquiry confirmed that all of the 13 killings and 13 woundings were unjustified. During a meeting with Blair in 2001, Trimble questioned the impartiality of judge Sir Brian Kerr, later chief justice of Northern Ireland and a

Law Lord Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

appointed to the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. This evidence and comments made about other public figures contradicts what Trimble's biographer considered a "lack of personal bigotry against Catholics".

Peerage

At the general elections of 2005, Trimble was defeated in Upper Bann by the DUP's David Simpson in his bid for re-election to Parliament in Westminster. The Ulster Unionist Party retained only one seat in Parliament (out of 18 in Northern Ireland) after the 2005 general election, and Trimble resigned the party leadership on 7 May 2005. On 11 April 2006, it was revealed that Trimble would take a seat in the

as a working

. On 21 May 2006 it was announced that he had chosen the geographical designation Lisnagarvey, the original name for his adopted home town of

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

. Subsequently, on 2 June 2006, he was created ''Baron Trimble'', ''of

Lisnagarvey Lisnagarvey or Lisnagarvy ()Placenames NI
is a

in the County of Antrim''. Eight months later, he confirmed that he would be standing down from the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

at the next election. Trimble announced on 17 April 2007 that he had decided to join the Conservative Party in order to have greater influence in politics in the United Kingdom. At the same time, however, he stated that he did not intend to campaign against the Ulster Unionist Party and proposed the idea of a future alliance between the Conservatives and the Ulster Unionists, similar to that which had existed prior to 1974 and the fallout of the Sunningdale Agreement. This idea became reality with the formation of the

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

Ulster Conservatives and Unionists The Ulster Conservatives and Unionists, officially registered as the ''Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force'' (''UCUNF''), was an electoral alliance in Northern Ireland between the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Conservative ...

in late 2008. It was reported that if the Conservatives won the 2010 general election, Trimble would receive a "significant" ministerial role, possibly in the Cabinet. In the end, however, Trimble was not offered any governmental or

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

position following the formation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government. In May 2010, Trimble joined the Friends of Israel Initiative, a non-Jewish international project supporting

Israel's right to exist The legitimacy of the State of Israel has been challenged since before the state was formed. There has been opposition to Zionism, the movement to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, since its emergence in 19th-century Europe. Since the ...

. The initiative, started by former prime minister of Spain

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

, also included former United States Ambassador to the United Nations

John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...

, British historian Andrew Roberts and former Peruvian president

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...

. On 29 January 2013, Trimble and Aznar co-wrote an article in ''The Times'' condemning

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

and calling on European governments to list it as a terrorist organisation. In 2016, Trimble supported the Leave side in the UK referendum on EU membership. He said that if he had ever had any doubts about the issue, "his eight years on the EU Select Committees in the House of Lords – which scrutinise the EU's operations – had convinced him of the need to cut ties with Brussels". He cited a study which found that economic growth in the UK reduced after the decision to enter the Common Market and reduced further when the UK went into the Single Market.

Turkel Commission of Inquiry

On 14 June 2010, Trimble was appointed an observer to the Israeli special independent public Turkel Commission of Inquiry into the

Gaza flotilla raid Ships of Gaza flotilla raid, Six civilian ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla were raided by Israel on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty woun ...

. The Commission investigated whether Israel's actions in preventing the arrival of ships in Gaza were in accordance with

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. It focused among other things on the security considerations for imposing a

naval blockade A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

on the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

and the conformity of the naval blockade with the rules of international law; the conformity of the actions during the raid to principles of international law; and the actions taken by those who organised and participated in the flotilla, and their identities. On the commission were former

Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...

Justice, Jacob Turkel, and former Technion University President,

Amos Horev Amos Horev (; ''né'' Sochaczewer; born 30 June 1924) is an Israeli military official and expert. He served as a commander in the Palmach the elite force of the Haganah before the founding of the state, and was later an Israel Defense Forces (IDF ...

, as well two other members added in July 2010. (

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

Professor of International Law

Shabtai Rosenne Shabtai Rosenne (; 24 November 1917 – 21 September 2010) was a Professor of International Law and an Israeli diplomat. Rosenne was awarded the 1960 Israel Prize for Jurisprudence, the 1999 Manley O. Hudson Medal for International Law and Jur ...

also served on the commission from its establishment until his death on 21 September 2010.) In addition, the commission had two foreign observers, Trimble and former head of the Canadian military's judiciary, Judge Advocate General, Ken Watkin, who took part in hearings and discussions, but did not vote on the final conclusions. The panel, in January 2011, concluded both Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and the interception of the flotilla "were found to be legally pursuant to the rules of international law".

Personal life

Trimble married his first wife, Heather McComb, in 1968. They did not have children, having had a

stillbirth Stillbirth is typically defined as fetus, fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without vital signs, signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt (emotio ...

of twin sons. In 1976 the couple divorced. Two years later he married a former student of his, Daphne Elizabeth (née Orr). They had two sons and two daughters (Richard, Victoria, Nicholas and Sarah). Richard Trimble is a maths teacher and head of the sixth form at Graveney School in Tooting, South West London. Lady Trimble served as a member of the

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is a non-departmental public body in Northern Ireland established under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. "The Commission is responsible for implementing the legislation on sex discrimination and equal pa ...

and later the

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) is a non-departmental public body funded through the Northern Ireland Office but operating independently of government as the national human rights institution (NHRI) for Northern Ireland. It c ...

, before standing unsuccessfully in the UK parliamentary election of May 2010 for the Conservatives and Unionists. His son Nicholas was active within the Ulster Unionist Party and serving on the

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

at the time of his father's death. Nicholas Trimble was co-opted in 2016 to replace Alexander Redpath as a Councillor representing Downshire West on Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Trimble admitted in July 2019 that he was "forced" to change his position on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and partnerships after voting against them, because of his lesbian daughter Vicky, who married her girlfriend Rosalind Stephens in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in 2017. He told peers in the House of Lords "I cannot change that, and I cannot now go around saying that I am opposed to it because I acquiesced to it. There we are." His nephew Andrew played professional rugby for Ireland. Trimble died on 25 July 2022 after a brief illness. He was 77 years old.

Honours

1933 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Norman Angell

In October 1998, Trimble and John Hume were awarded the

for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland. The Nobel Institute noted:

As the leader of the traditionally predominant party in Northern Ireland, David Trimble showed great political courage when, at a critical stage of the process, he advocated solutions which led to the elfast (Good Friday)peace agreement.

At a ceremony in Paris on 8 December 1999, Trimble was appointed an Officier in the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

by the French Government. In 2002, Trimble was awarded the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a nonprofit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest-achieving people in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet one ano ...

Selected works

Books

* *

Articles

Notes and references

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trimble, David, Baron Trimble 1944 births 2022 deaths Academics of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Barristers from Northern Ireland British legal scholars British political commentators British political writers Conservative Party (UK) life peers Elizabethtown College alumni First ministers of Northern Ireland Leaders of the Ulster Unionist Party Life peers created by Elizabeth II Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland Members of the Bar of Northern Ireland Members of the Freedom Association Members of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention Members of the Northern Ireland Forum Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Upper Bann Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers of the Northern Ireland Executive (since 1999) Nobel Peace Prize laureates Nobel laureates from Northern Ireland British Nobel laureates Northern Ireland MLAs 1998–2003 Northern Ireland MLAs 2003–2007 People educated at Bangor Grammar School Place of death missing Presbyterians from Northern Ireland UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Ulster Unionist Party MLAs Ulster Unionist Party MPs Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party politicians Lawyers from Belfast