David Trimble, key architect of Good Friday agreement, dies aged 77

His death on Monday was announced by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the party he led into a historic power-sharing arrangement between nationalists and republicans in Northern Ireland.

Lord Trimble was the first person to serve in the role of first minister, and won the Nobel peace prize, along with John Hume, leader of the nationalist SDLP party, for their part in negotiations for the Good Friday agreement. He was UUP leader between 1995 and 2005, accepting a life peerage in the House of Lords in 2006.

Trimble had demonstrated bravery and courage while battling his recent illness in a way that was typical of the qualities he showed in his political career, at Stormont and at Westminster, Beattie added.

A return to the mainstream unionist establishment followed, however, and he rejoined the Ulster Unionist party in 1978, becoming MP at Westminster for Upper Bann at a by-election on May 17, 1990.

The high point of his career, at that point, was when he won the Ulster Unionist leadership in September 1995 after the resignation of the veteran Sir James Molyneaux.

Trimble is survived by his wife, Daphne, and his sons and daughters, Richard, Victoria, Nicholas and Sarah.