Trimble, David

Born on 15 October 1944, the politician David Trimble was educated at Bangor Grammar School and the Queen's University of Belfast, where he read law, and subsequently lectured in that subject. His early political activity was with Vanguard (a short-lived unionist party founded to oppose Terence O'Neill), which strongly distrusted British machinations—to the point of considering independence for Northern Ireland. Trimble played an important part in organizing the successful loyalist strike against the Sunningdale Agreement in 1974.

Trimble was no mere naysayer, however, and followed Willam Craig, Vanguard's leader, in advocating voluntary coalition with the SDLP. The organization split on this issue, however, and rapidly declined. Trimble rejoined the Ulster Unionist Party mainstream in 1978. From 1990 he was reactive in politics, winning the Upper Bann Westminster constituency and in 1995 catching attention by provocative coat-trailing following the forced passage of Orangemen down the Catholic Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

Mostly by virtue of his flinty reputation, Trimble won the leadership of the UUP in 1995 when James Molyneaux resigned. To general surprise he now showed considerable tactical flexibility. He was particularly concerned not to lead unionists out of the political process for fear that the British and Irish governments would then impose a settlement influenced by nationalist lobbying. Realizing that Britain would not accept unionist stonewalling, he and his party agreed to sign the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. This, he believed, secured the principle that Northern Ireland's constitutional status could not be changed without majority consent in the province. Evidently he found many other changes objectionable, notably toleration for the continued existence of paramilitaries, but thought them best dealt with by subsequent pressure.

In 1998 Trimble won election to the post of first minister of the new devolved government. As leader of the single largest party he experienced a slippage of votes to anti-agreement parties, but this only added to his determination to highlight the IRA's violation, as he saw it, of the spirit of the agreement. He was accused of failing to sell the agreement's positive virtues with sufficient enthusiasm.

At first the "de-commissioning" of paramilitary weapons was Trimble's touchstone, and in fall of 2001 the IRA conceded a token act of decommissioning. Attention now focused on alleged violations of the IRA's ceasefire, and Trimble increasingly pressed for a form of IRA disbandment. In the fall of 2002 he prevailed upon the British to suspend the devolved government. Trimble's primary concern now was to preserve the UUP vote against anti-agreement rivals in subsequent elections.

Trimble, David

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