Former Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble funeral

The former first minister and Ulster Unionist Party leader, Trimble, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize along with late SDLP leader John Hume, died last week following an illness.

Mourners were led by Lady Trimble and the couple's four children - Richard, Victoria, Nicholas and Sarah - each of whom did a reading during the service.

The funeral of former Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble is taking place in Lisburn, Co Antrim this afternoon. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have arrived at Harmony Hill Presbyterian Church for the funeral. 

President Michael D Higgins and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are also in attendance at the church. 

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill, former NI first minister Paul Givan and NI Secretary Shailesh Vara have also taken their places in the church.

PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne has also arrived. Members of the public have gathered outside the church to pay their respects. 

His funeral service begins at 12.30 p.m. As his sons and daughters carried the casket into the church, his widow, Daphne Trimble, took a seat in the front row.

Trimble led the Ulster Unionist Party from 1995 to 2005 while serving as first minister from 1998 to 2002. Political figures from the past and present have praised the 77-year-commitment old's to Northern Ireland's peace.

The big crowd present at the memorial ceremony this afternoon, according to Reverend Fiona Forbes, is evidence of Trimble's influence on the political landscape and the "legacy he left all of us."

“Of course, we come to remember an academic, a party leader, a peacemaker, a Nobel laureate, the first to serve in the role of first minister in the new Northern Ireland Executive established as part of the Good Friday Agreement,” she said. 

“But we also come to remember a husband, father, and grandfather, a brother, brother-in-law and uncle, a colleague, a committed member of this church family, and a friend.”

Trimble’s eldest son Richard thanked the public for their sympathies and kind words following the death of his father. 

 David Trimble with Bertie Ahern in a meeting at Government Buildings in Dublin in 2003. Source: RollingNews.ie

According to Rev. Dr. Charles McMullen, Trimble's deeds helped a generation of Northern Irish people grow up in "relative peace."

He expressed the hope that the burial service will serve as a catalyst for increased efforts to settle political disputes in Northern Ireland.

Can we utilise this service today to redouble our efforts on this island home of ours, as a worthy memorial to one of the greats?" he said.

"May our leaders resolve the unresolved concerns surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol with courage, pragmatism, and generosity of spirit, so that our democratic institutions are swiftly restored and we may all go ahead together."

    photo:sky

He was one of the main architects of the Good Friday Agreement, which put an end to decades of conflict in the region, according to statements from former US president Bill Clinton and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Trimble "took the hard choices over the politically expedient ones because he felt future generations deserved to grow up free from violence and prejudice," Clinton said, adding that Trimble's "lifetime of service" helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.

His belief in the democratic process, according to a statement from the man, "enabled him to stand up to significant opposition in his own community, persuade them of the virtues of compromise, and share power with his erstwhile foes."

"All who are living better lives today as a result of him will continue to carry on his legacy."

Ahern last week said he did not believe the Good Friday Agreement would have been achievable without Trimble’s efforts.

The former Taoiseach said Trimble “never blinked” and that he “stood up to the wider Unionist community” as part of the peace process.

“If David didn’t bring the unionist party with them then we didn’t have an agreement,” he said. “The agreement was four parts and that was loyalism, that was unionism, republicanism and that was nationalism. And we needed all four.”

The Northern Ireland Assembly, which remains stymied by tension over the Brexit border in the Irish Sea, will reconvene tomorrow for tributes to David Trimble.