David Trimble: NI Assembly recalled to pay tribute

Politicians from across the political divide in Northern Ireland have gathered at Stormont to pay tribute to Lord Trimble.

The assembly was recalled for a special sitting on Tuesday afternoon.

MLAs were given the opportunity to remember the former Ulster Unionist Party leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died last week aged 77.

Lord Trimble led the UUP from 1995 to 2005 and was the first person to serve as first minister of Northern Ireland.

He was instrumental in the negotiations and signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which brought to an end the worst of 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.

Tuesday's sitting was led by Speaker Alex Maskey.

He opened with his own tribute to Lord Trimble, describing him as a "complex and thoughtful character" who carried a heavy burden as the leader of unionism.

"There is no doubt David Trimble took risks and took decisions often in the face of fierce opposition when it would have been personally easier for him not to do so," Mr Maskey said.

"David and his family made sacrifices and paid a personal price for the leadership he showed, but the Good Friday Agreement and this Assembly do exist because of him."

Ulster Unionist Party leader, Doug Beattie, said that before 1998 unionists and nationalists would not have been seen in the same room together, "never mind share a handshake or form a government with joint responsibilities".

He contrasted that to scenes at Lord Trimble's funeral on Monday where political leaders from across the divide came together.

"At David's humble and dignified funeral, handshakes and pats on the shoulder were offered freely from every political corner with warm words of condolence - that's progress," he said.

"David's life was one of service...he had a vision focused on peace and on ending the sectarian divide while protecting Northern Ireland's place in the United Kingdom."

Sinn Féin vice-president, Michelle O'Neill, paid tribute to Lord Trimble's "courage and generosity", as she recognised the personal risks he took to achieve peace.

But Ms O'Neill also noted that 2023 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

"It would be a travesty if the political accommodation which the agreement is, the political institutions, and the relationships north-south and east-west are not reset between now and then," she added.

"History will be kind to David Trimble for the huge part he played, but it will be unforgiving to those of you who obstruct progress or refuse to show leadership."

DUP minister Edwin Poots noted that he was one of only four current MLAs left, who was elected to the Assembly of 1998 and shared the chamber with Lord Trimble.

"His ability and intellect was evident for all to see," Mr Poots said.

"His attention to detail was second to none. Actually, so much focused on the detail sometimes he didn't focus on the message, but he was so focused on the detail.

"He was brave, in that he took on the challenges that came his way and they weren't easy, particularly in a constituency like Upper Bann where the unionist population is very strong unionist population and they were certainly uneasy with much of what he was doing, and that transpired in future elections. But he was a dedicated unionist."

Alliance Party MLA Andrew Muir described Lord Trimble as a "complex character", and said that while he would not have agreed with him on some matters, he said he had made a "significant, substantial and positive contribution".

"Northern Ireland is, thankfully, a very different place now than it was back in 1998, but we should not kid our self that we don't have much further to travel. We do," he said.

"The prize of a truly reconciled people, a place where everyone is proud to call home, and fully functioning institutions sadly remains yet to be achieved.

"With so many of the giants of the peace process now no longer with us, current and future generations turn to us all here to take the baton on and complete the journey set out in 1998."

SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole said "very few politicians are able to claim a record of achievement as profound as that of David Trimble".

He noted successive leaders of unionism "struggling to deliver meaningful compromise without the demon accusations of Lundyism and treason".

"Trimble faced these accusations too, but stuck at it," he said.

"Dogged, diffident, sometimes difficult. He used a legal mind and remarkable tenacity to achieve - and then implement - a deal which esteemed both historic traditions and constitutional aspirations and acknowledged the interconnectedness of this island, and of both islands."

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister started off by saying he disagreed with Lord Trimble on the Good Friday Agreement. He said the assembly had been failing and dysfunctional since it was set up in 1998.

However, Mr Allister paid tribute to Lord Trimble as "more honest politically" than "those who supplanted him as the leader of unionism".

"I'm happy that in latter times I found common cause with Lord Trimble in opposing the [Northern Ireland] Protocol, and he was of course a joint applicant in the ongoing judicial review challenge to that protocol."

Mr Allister also recalled Lord Trimble as a law academic at Queen's University when he was a student, and described him as a "supreme academic and someone who was an intellectual of giant proportions".

MLAs have also signed a book of condolence.

Speaking afterwards, former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader, Mike Nesbitt, said the only fitting tribute to Lord Trimble would be "to get the institutions at Stormont back up and running again" to deal with issues that remain, including the protocol.

"What we are dealing with are challenges but they are nothing like the challenges that David Trimble had to overcome 25 years ago," he said.

The assembly will also sit again on Wednesday to try again to elect a new Speaker.

Mr Nesbitt said his party questions the point of the assembly recall on Wednesday, adding that "it is not going to go anywhere".

He urged urged party leaders to get together "quietly and privately to resolve the differences".

Without a Speaker, the assembly cannot function, but a Speaker can only be elected with support from a majority of unionist and nationalist members and this is not possible without the DUP.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party would not be supporting the election of a new Speaker.