David Trimble, the Nobel peace prize-winning former first minister of Northern Ireland whose statecraft helped end decades of conflict, died Monday aged 77.
Trimble, a key architect of the landmark 1998 peace deal in the troubled UK province, won the prize along with pro-Irish leader John Hume that year after the pair sealed the historic agreement.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness,” his Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said in a statement. No further details were given about the death of a politician who, despite his staunch pro-UK convictions, worked with Irish nationalists to end the three decades of bloodshed known as the “Troubles”. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Trimble as a “giant of British and international politics”. He “will be long remembered for his intellect, personal bravery and fierce determination to change politics for the better”, Johnson tweeted. —APP
