Voting Station

David Trimble

Please vote to return to collections.

Politician

The Resume

    (October 15, 1944-July 25, 2022)
    Born in Bangor, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
    Birth name was William David Trimble
    Former barrister and professor of law at Queen’s University, Belfast
    Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, 1995-2005)
    Member of Parliament for Upper Bann (1990-2005)
    First Minister of Northern Ireland (1998-2002)
    Made a Life Peer of the House of Lords as Baron Trimble of Lisnagarvey (2006)
    Co-recipient, with John Hume, of the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement that ended most of the violence in Northern Ireland (1998)

Why he might be annoying:

    He joined Ian Paisley and other unionists in shouting abuse at Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey during Haughey’s visit to Northern Ireland (1990).
    During his maiden speech in Parliament, he declared that the UUP had been formed ‘to combat Irish nationalism.’
    He dismissed the Irish Republican Army’s ceasefire as a ‘sham.’ (1994)
    He led a controversial Orange Order Protestant march through a Catholic neighborhood in the town of Portadown (1995).
    He voted against legalizing same-sex civil unions (2004).
    He resigned as UUP leader after Parliamentary elections in which the UUP won a single seat in the House of Commons (2005).
    An ‘Economist’ profile observed, ‘Mr. Trimble needs political friends but lacks the art of making them.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was targeted for assassination by the IRA.
    He was the first unionist leader to negotiate with Sinn Fein since the 1921 Partition of Ireland.
    He said, ‘What I have looked for is a peace within the realms of the possible.’
    He was named an officer of the French Legion of Honor (1999).
    He changed his position on same-sex marriage after his daughter Vicky married another woman (2017).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 17 Votes: 82.35% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying