William F Trimble Popular Books

William F Trimble Biography & Facts

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 (UUP) from 1995 to 2005. He was also Member of Parliament (MP) for Upper Bann from 1990 to 2005 and Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Upper Bann from 1998 to 2007. Trimble began his career teaching law at The Queen's University of Belfast in the 1970s, during which time he began to get involved with the paramilitary-linked Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party (VPUP). He was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention 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 in 1998, and (along with John Hume) won the Nobel Peace Prize 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 decommissioning. Trimble resigned the leadership of the UUP soon after being defeated at the 2005 general election. In June 2006, he accepted a life peerage in the House of Lords, taking the title of Baron Trimble, of Lisnagarvey 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 on 15 October 1944. He was the son of William and Ivy Trimble, lower-middle class Presbyterians who lived in Bangor, County Down. He attended Bangor Grammar School from 1956 to 1963. He then studied at Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) from 1964 to 1968, where he was awarded the McKane Medal for Jurisprudence. He received a first class honours degree (the first at Queen's in three years), becoming a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B). Early career Academic career Trimble qualified as a barrister (British lawyer) 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 the Department 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, a friend and fellow law lecturer. He was asked to identify the body. In 1994 he was told by the Royal Ulster Constabulary that he had been targeted for assassination. Political career Trimble became involved with the right-wing, paramilitary-linked Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party (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. Trimble was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975 as a Vanguard member for Belfast South, and for a time he served as the party's joint deputy leader, along with the Ulster Defence Association'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 Ulster Unionist Party (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 during the civil war in the 1990s. Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party 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, in which he led a controversial 1995 Orange Order Protestant march, amidst Nationalist protest, down the predominantly Catholic nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, County Armagh. Trimble and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley walked hand-in-hand as the march, banned since 1997, proceeded down the road. Many Irish Catholics 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) to meet with the Taoiseach in Dublin. In 1997, he became the first unionist leader since the partition of Ireland in 1921 to agree to negotiate with Sinn Féin. 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. 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 Good Friday Agreement 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 in the 1998 New Year Honours. First Minister of Northern Ireland Trimble was elected on 25 June 1998 as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Upper Bann. He was elected First Minister of Northern Ireland on 1 July 1998. Arguments over the extent of Provisional Irish Republican Army 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 Gerry Adams wanted this?.... Discover the William F Trimble popular books. Find the top 100 most popular William F Trimble books.