David Trimble funeral: Public give thanks to late UUP leader for gift of peace

Given that the former UUP leader’s death has reminded people of the importance of the 1998 peace deal which he play a huge role in brokering, there was an air of thankfulness in Lambeg during his funeral service.

Pat Walker, 76, from Lambeg, had an admiration for the politician who had made a moving tribute to her late father.

She said: “When they reopened the new Lambeg Orange Hall after the IRA had bombed it David Trimble did the dedication.

“My father was a long time Orangeman but he had died two months before it, he did a lovely obituary.

“I always admired David Trimble regardless of that but that was a lovely gesture.

“My mother who is now passed away was there to hear it. It was lovely.”

Her granddaughter Eve Gillespie, 16, said she has got to know David Trimble through history books.

She said: “I wasn’t born until 2005 but I did learn a whole lot more throughout the years about Northern Irish history. It’s something I’m very interested in.

“I learnt a lot about David and what he had done for Northern Ireland so it’s definitely a big day but also a very sad day.”

Hugh Casey, also from Lambeg, said: “He was smart and he was determined to try and get peace, hence he had to do things that he didn’t really want to do, to bring other people with him.

“It probably killed him in a way, the stress of it all.

“He lived close by, but we only spoke to say hello a few times.

“He was a very shy man, but he was a deep thinker.

“When it came to politics he could be hot at times, he said what he thought. He needed to do that.

“Without David Trimble I think that there would be an awful lot more lives lost in Northern Ireland.

“He did bring people together, especially the unionist side to agree to a peace solution.”

Joan Allen has been a member of the same church as the Trimble family since 1969.

She said: “There are so many important people here that I can’t even get in to my own church so we’ve come over to the other side of the road to pay our respects.

“It was only a 20 minute walk to get here, there was no point trying to get parked as so many of them would be driving and there’s not very much parking at the church.”

Of David Trimble she said: “He certainly did great work. There’s people walking the streets now who would have been in their graves if it wasn’t for him.

Her friend Ann Leonard added: “They’re a lovely family. The mother was particularly nice.”

Brian Dyer had come into Lambeg with his wife Tina without realising the funeral was taking place there, but they’d stay to watch some of people arriving and listen to the ceremony.

Brian said: “We didn’t realise the funeral was here today, we thought it was in Lisburn.

“When we saw it was here we stayed on to watch it.”

Asked what he thought of David Trimble, he said: “For me, he had his good points and his bad points, which all of them do.

“He let us down too, so he did.

“The wee man I like now is wee Jeffrey. If he sticks by his guns that’s the main thing.”

Standing alongside members of the public during David Trimble’s funeral service were Lagan Valley Alliance Party MLAs Sorcha Eastwood and David Honeyford.

They said that given the amount of high profile guests attending, they wanted to make sure there was enough room for friends and family of Lord Trimble inside the small church building.

Sorcha said: “Myself and David are here as Lagan Valley reps. Obviously David spent a lot of his life here, he raised his family here, this is home for him.

“He certainly left his mark not just on Northern Ireland but this local community as well.”

David said: “We both served with his son Nicholas on Lisburn council until May (when they became Assembly members).

“We’re both here to pay our respects and thank and celebrate the life of David Trimble for what he has done for our generation and for every generation.”

Sorcha said: “We’re just here to pay our respects, we don’t need to be in the church, it’s important that there are people in there who really need to be in there.

“We’re here as part of the community. I think that’s the mark of the man that it isn’t just people who are in politics that are here today, it’s ordinary people and it’s those ordinary people who David Trimble worked so hard for to get peace.

“To think of what this place could have been without the work of David Trimble and John Hume and others is just unthinkable.

“Whenever you think about the sacrifice that they made it’s incredible.”

David said: “I’ll never forget the night the agreement was signed, coming home as an 18 or 19 year old at that time, my parents not believing that this had happened, that someone from the unionist community had taken that stand and had the backbone to move forward.

“It’s our generation and all our kids’ generations who should be thankful that he did.”