Difference between revisions of "David Trimble" - New World Encyclopedia

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==The political context==
 
==The political context==
From its establishment as a province of the United Kingdom in 1920, Northern Ireland was dominated by its Protestant majority.  Until its Parliament was prorogued in March, 1972 due to its inability to end the violence that had started in the lates 1960's, all six Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland were Protestant and members of the Unionist Party that favored union with Britain.  About 60% of the population, the Protestants discriminated against Catholics by rigging the electoral system, by excluding them from the police service and by giving Protestant preferential treatemnt in such matters as social housing.  When, inspired by the civil rights movement in the [[United States]] a civil rights movement started in Ireland in the mid 1960's, led among others by John Hume, Catholics with some Protestant support wanted justice within the present system.  However, when the government only responded with force and peaceful protesters were met with bullets, more and more catholics supported the paramilitary Irish Republican Army and other, more radical organizations. Between January and May 1974 a power-executive was formed following the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] in which the UUP and the SDLP cooperated.  However, the UUP later withdrew its support and the then smaller Democratic Union Party, led by Ian Paisley, pledged to wreck the agreement. The arrangement failed and Northern Ireland continued to be ruled from Westminster until its new Assembly was established in  
+
From its establishment as a province of the United Kingdom in 1920, Northern Ireland was dominated by its Protestant majority.  Until its Parliament was prorogued in March, 1972 due to its inability to end the violence that had started in the lates 1960's, all six Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland were Protestant and members of the Unionist Party that favored union with Britain.  About 60% of the population, the Protestants discriminated against Catholics by rigging the electoral system, by excluding them from the police service and by giving Protestant preferential treatemnt in such matters as social housing.  When, inspired by the civil rights movement in the [[United States]] a civil rights movement started in Ireland in the mid 1960's, led among others by John Hume, Catholics with some Protestant support wanted justice within the present system.  However, when the government only responded with force and peaceful protesters were met with bullets, more and more catholics supported the paramilitary Irish Republican Army and other, more radical organizations. Between January and May 1974 a power-executive was formed following the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] in which the UUP and the SDLP cooperated.  However, the UUP later withdrew its support and the then smaller Democratic Union Party, led by Ian Paisley, pledged to wreck the agreement. The arrangement failed and Northern Ireland continued to be ruled from Westminster until its new Assembly was established in 1998.
 +
When the Anglo Irish Agreement was signed in November 1985, the DUP and the UUP again joined together in protest and all their MPs resigned.  In the subsequent election, their candidates did not stand against each other. Following the [[Good Friday Agreement]] of April 1998, the two Unionist parties again united both in opposition to the Agreement and against Sinn Féin's participation.  Banned from participating in the peace process until its paramilitary wing, the IRA called a cease fire in 1994, Sinn Féin would now a partner in the new Assembly.  However, when on 22 May, 1998 71% of the population of Nortehrn Ireland voted in favor of the Agreement, both Unionist Parties campaigned in the elctions for the Assembly.  The more moderate republican party, the SDLP, won the single largest share of seats, 24 followed by the DUP with 28, the UUP with 20 and Sinn Féin with 18. Trimble became First Minister on July 1st but by October 2002 the Assembly had been suspended when Unionist members walked out due to alleged espionage activities by members of Sinn Féin.
 +
 
 +
===First Minister of Northern Ireland===
 +
Trimble at first opposed the appointment of former US Senator George J. Mitchell as the chairman of the multi-party talks which resulted in the Belfast [[Good Friday Agreement]] (GFA) of 1998. Trimble was subsequently seen as instrumental in getting his party to accept the accord. Later in 1998, Trimble and [[John Hume]] were awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland, Derry journilist Eamon McCann described Trimble winning the Nobel Peace Prize as winning the lottery and not buying a ticket. Trimble was elected to the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] and subsequently became [[First Minister of Northern Ireland]]. However arguments over the extent of [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] decommissioning meant that Trimble's tenure as First Minister was repeatedly interrupted. In particular:
 +
*The office of First Minister was suspended from 11 February 2000 to 30 May 2000.
 +
*Trimble resigned as First Minister on 1 July 2001, but was re-elected on November 5 2001.
 +
*The Assembly has been suspended since 14 October 2002 due to accusations of an IRA spy ring being operated there (the so-called Stormontgate Affair).
  
== Leadership of Ulster Unionist Party ==
 
In 1995 Trimble [[Ulster Unionist Party leadership election, September 1995|was unexpectedly elected leader of the UUP]], defeating the front-runner John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney. Trimble's election as party leader came in the aftermath of his leading role in the controversial Orange Order march, amidst Nationalist protest, down the predominantly Nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, County Armagh.  Trimble and [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) leader [[Ian Paisley]] were infamously filmed walking hand-in-hand as the march proceeded down the road, in a controversial march that has been banned since 1997.  This has been labelled the Drumcree "Victory Jig" by some commentators who are quick to point out that while Trimble gained immediate credibility just before the leadership election he lost it longterm.<ref>See comments on the "Victory Jig" [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/05/08/story4619.asp here]. See video of the controversial march and "Victory Jig" in the 1995 section  [http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1420000/video/_1424111_ireland_murray_jul95_vi.ram here].</ref>  Most recently the "Victory Jig" episode was cited as an example of Trimble "manipulating" the Orange Order "to get the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party."<ref>See comments by DUP's David Simpson dated 28 April 2006 on BBC News available [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4953318.stm here].</ref>
 
  
== First Minister of Northern Ireland ==
 
Trimble at first opposed the appointment of former US Senator George J. Mitchell as the chairman of the multi-party talks which resulted in the Belfast [[Good Friday Agreement]] (GFA) of 1998. Trimble was subsequently seen as instrumental in getting his party to accept the accord. Later in 1998, Trimble and [[John Hume]] were awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland, Derry journilist Eamon McCann described Trimble winning the Nobel Peace Prize as winning the lottery and not buying a ticket. Trimble was elected to the [[Northern Ireland Assembly]] and subsequently became [[First Minister of Northern Ireland]]. However arguments over the extent of [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] decommissioning meant that Trimble's tenure as First Minister was repeatedly interrupted. In particular:
 
*The office of First Minister was suspended from [[11 February]] [[2000]] to [[30 May]] [[2000]].
 
*Trimble resigned as First Minister on [[1 July]] [[2001]], but was re-elected on [[November 5]] [[2001]].
 
*The Assembly has been suspended since [[14 October]] [[2002]] due to accusations of an IRA spy ring being operated there (the so-called [[Stormontgate]] Affair).
 
  
{{wikinews|UUP leader loses seat in 2005 UK General Election}}
 
  
 
At [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|the general elections of 2005]], David Trimble failed in his bid for re-election to Parliament in Westminster when he was defeated by the [[Democratic Unionist Party]]'s [[David Simpson]]. The Ulster Unionist Party retained only one seat in Parliament (out of eighteen in Northern Ireland) after the 2005 General Election, and David Trimble resigned as leader of the party on [[7 May]] [[2005]].
 
At [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|the general elections of 2005]], David Trimble failed in his bid for re-election to Parliament in Westminster when he was defeated by the [[Democratic Unionist Party]]'s [[David Simpson]]. The Ulster Unionist Party retained only one seat in Parliament (out of eighteen in Northern Ireland) after the 2005 General Election, and David Trimble resigned as leader of the party on [[7 May]] [[2005]].

Revision as of 08:04, 13 June 2007


William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC (born 15 October 1944), is a politician from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the first First Minister of Northern Ireland. He shared the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with John Hume of the Social Democratic and Labour Party. He served as Member of Parliament for Upper Bann from 1990 until 2005, when he was defeated in the British general election and resigned the leadership of the UUP soon afterwards. On 6 June 2006 he became a member of the House of Lords[1] as The Right Honourable William David Trimble by the name, style and title of BARON TRIMBLE, of Lisnagarvey in the County of Antrim. On 17 April 2007 he announced that he was to leave the UUP and join the national Conservative Party.[1] He is married to his former student, Daphne Orr, and they have four children. He has no children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. Although a staunch Protestant and memner of the Orange Order, Trimble was able to reach across both the religious and the political divide to enter peace negotiations and to agree a new power-sharing system of governance. Most Catholics in Ireland want union with the Republic of Ireland, most Protestants oppose this is favor of continued membership of the United Kingdom. He is a strong believer in civil society and in the political, democratic process. In his Nobel Lecture, he credited the fact that despite violence on both sides, "paramilitarism never displaced politics" and Northern Ireland "thank god, stopped short of that abyss that engulfed Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia and Rwanda". He expressed some skepicism that lessons can easily be transferred from one conflict to others, given that each have their own histories and issues. [2].

Education and early career

Lord Trimble was educated at Bangor Grammar School in Bangor, County Down, and at the Queen's University of Belfast (QUB), where he received a First class honours degree, becoming a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B). He qualified as a barrister in Northern Ireland in 1969 and became a lecturer in law at QUB, becoming a Senior Lecturer in 1977. He served as head of the Department of Commercial and Property Law from 1980 to 1989.[3]

David Trimble became involved with the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the early 1970s and ran unsuccessfully for the party in the 1973 Assembly elections for North Down. In 1974 he acted as legal adviser to the Ulster Workers' Council during the paramilitary-controlled Ulster Workers' Strike, during which loyalist paramilitaries intimidated thousands of utility workers. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Convention in 1975 as a Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party member for South Belfast 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 William 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.

When the Vanguard party collapsed he joined the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 1978 and was elected one of the four party secretaries. He ran unsuccessfully for the UUP in the 1981 council elections in the Lisburn area. He was elected to Westminster in a by-election in Upper Bann in 1990. He was one of the few British politicians who urged support for Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. His support for an interventionist foreign policy is demonstrated by his membership of the Henry Jackson Society.

The political context

From its establishment as a province of the United Kingdom in 1920, Northern Ireland was dominated by its Protestant majority. Until its Parliament was prorogued in March, 1972 due to its inability to end the violence that had started in the lates 1960's, all six Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland were Protestant and members of the Unionist Party that favored union with Britain. About 60% of the population, the Protestants discriminated against Catholics by rigging the electoral system, by excluding them from the police service and by giving Protestant preferential treatemnt in such matters as social housing. When, inspired by the civil rights movement in the United States a civil rights movement started in Ireland in the mid 1960's, led among others by John Hume, Catholics with some Protestant support wanted justice within the present system. However, when the government only responded with force and peaceful protesters were met with bullets, more and more catholics supported the paramilitary Irish Republican Army and other, more radical organizations. Between January and May 1974 a power-executive was formed following the Sunningdale Agreement in which the UUP and the SDLP cooperated. However, the UUP later withdrew its support and the then smaller Democratic Union Party, led by Ian Paisley, pledged to wreck the agreement. The arrangement failed and Northern Ireland continued to be ruled from Westminster until its new Assembly was established in 1998. When the Anglo Irish Agreement was signed in November 1985, the DUP and the UUP again joined together in protest and all their MPs resigned. In the subsequent election, their candidates did not stand against each other. Following the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, the two Unionist parties again united both in opposition to the Agreement and against Sinn Féin's participation. Banned from participating in the peace process until its paramilitary wing, the IRA called a cease fire in 1994, Sinn Féin would now a partner in the new Assembly. However, when on 22 May, 1998 71% of the population of Nortehrn Ireland voted in favor of the Agreement, both Unionist Parties campaigned in the elctions for the Assembly. The more moderate republican party, the SDLP, won the single largest share of seats, 24 followed by the DUP with 28, the UUP with 20 and Sinn Féin with 18. Trimble became First Minister on July 1st but by October 2002 the Assembly had been suspended when Unionist members walked out due to alleged espionage activities by members of Sinn Féin.

First Minister of Northern Ireland

Trimble at first opposed the appointment of former US Senator George J. Mitchell as the chairman of the multi-party talks which resulted in the Belfast Good Friday Agreement (GFA) of 1998. Trimble was subsequently seen as instrumental in getting his party to accept the accord. Later in 1998, Trimble and John Hume were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland, Derry journilist Eamon McCann described Trimble winning the Nobel Peace Prize as winning the lottery and not buying a ticket. Trimble was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly and subsequently became First Minister of Northern Ireland. However arguments over the extent of Provisional Irish Republican Army decommissioning meant that Trimble's tenure as First Minister was repeatedly interrupted. In particular:

  • The office of First Minister was suspended from 11 February 2000 to 30 May 2000.
  • Trimble resigned as First Minister on 1 July 2001, but was re-elected on November 5 2001.
  • The Assembly has been suspended since 14 October 2002 due to accusations of an IRA spy ring being operated there (the so-called Stormontgate Affair).



At the general elections of 2005, David Trimble failed in his bid for re-election to Parliament in Westminster when he was defeated by the Democratic Unionist Party's David Simpson. The Ulster Unionist Party retained only one seat in Parliament (out of eighteen in Northern Ireland) after the 2005 General Election, and David Trimble resigned as leader of the party on 7 May 2005.

On 11 April 2006, it was announced that Trimble would take a seat in the House of Lords as a working life peer.[4] 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 and on 2 June 2006 he was created Baron Trimble, of Lisnagarvey in the County of Antrim.

On 18 December 2006, he announced that he would be standing down from the Northern Ireland Assembly at the next election.[5]

On 17 April 2007, Trimble announced that he had decided to join the Conservative Party in order to have greater influence in politics at a United Kingdom-wide level.[1] 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.

Death threats

Trimble has recently complained to the Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair over death threats made against him on the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)-aligned 32 County Sovereignty Committee (32CSM) bulletin board. He said he was copying the letter to the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Northern Ireland Secretary and Scottish Secretary. The initial posting was made by "Trimble murder suggestions" on 19 May 2006.[6]

Trivia

Trimble is a fan of Sudoku.[citation needed] He has regularly been spotted completing the intermediate, easy and expert grids, in that order, and all within the 1 hour flight between Belfast and London.[citation needed]

Notes and references

  1. 1.0 1.1 David Trimble official website (2007-04-17). Statement by the Rt. Hon. The Lord Trimble, Tuesday, 17 April 2007. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-17.
  2. Trimble, David Nobel Lecture, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for 1998 - Lecture by David Trimble retrieved 13 June 2007
  3. Northern Ireland Executive biography.
  4. BBC, , "New working life peers unveiled", 11 April 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  5. BBC, , "Trimble set to quit assembly seat", 18 December 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  6. The bulletin board has since ceased to function. See initial BBC News report 19 May 2006 available here. See 32 County Sovereignty Committee website available here.

External links

See also

  • List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords


Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
Harold McCusker
Member of Parliament for Upper Bann
1990–2005
Succeeded by:
David Simpson
Political offices
Preceded by:
Ernest Baird
Deputy Leader of the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
1975–1978
Succeeded by:
position abolished
Preceded by:
James Molyneaux
Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
1995-2005
Succeeded by:
Reg Empey
Preceded by:
First Minister of Northern Ireland
1998–2001
Succeeded by:
Reg Empey
(acting)
Preceded by:
Reg Empey
(acting)
First Minister of Northern Ireland
2001–2002
Succeeded by:
Office Suspended 2002-07
(Ian Paisley
2007-)

Template:UUP Leaders


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