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William David Trimble, Baron Trimble (born 15 October 1944) is a British politician who was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2002, and the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1995 to 2005. He was also the Member of Parliament for Upper Bann from 1990 to 2005 and the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Upper Bann from 1998 to 2007. In 2006, he was made a life peer in the House of Lords and a year later left the UUP to join the Conservative Party.
Trimble began his career as a Professor of Law at Queen's University Belfast in the 1970s, during which time he began to get involved with the paramilitary-linked Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party. He was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975, and joined the UUP in 1978 after ...
David Trimble is under renewed pressure to step down as Ulster Unionist Party leader after more than 30 members of his constituency association quit.
The walkout at the annual general meeting of Mr Trimble's Upper Bann association is the latest blow to his position after the UUP was replaced by Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists as the largest party in the province following the recent Stormont elections.
The news comes just days after the DUP claimed to have gained more than 100 new members from the UUP in the Lagan Valley area.
Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson left the UUP for the DUP ...
Lady Trimble has been selected by the UUP as its choice to stand against Jeffrey Donaldson in Lagan Valley at the next general election.
She is the wife of ex-UUP leader David Trimble who clashed with Mr Donaldson over power-sharing with Sinn Fein.
Although Lady Trimble was the sole candidate, she did not get unanimous backing with about 75% voting for her.
A joint committee of Ulster Unionists and Conservatives will have to select a joint candidate for the constituency.
The Conservatives' choice is Belfast businesswoman Sheila Davidson.
A UUP spokesman declined to comment, insisting ...
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Gaza has many differences, but some striking similarities with Northern Ireland. It has a similar population of 1.5 million. Its territory has been disputed in a terrorist conflict for some years and it elected politicians who had been members of a terrorist organisation. And Gaza had the same debate as we did — can you ever hold talks with elected politicians who have links with terrorism? Over the years many here have admired Israel’s robust response to terrorism. Some years ago several unionist politicians advocated that we follow their example, but ...