Mike Nesbitt: My predecessor as Ulster Unionist leader put people before party

I have known David Trimble since my early days as a news journalist in the 1980s. I could recall many, many events but I’ll stick to two. A few weeks before the 1998 Agreement, two young friends, Philip Allen and Damien Traynor were murdered by loyalists in Poyntzspass. David and Seamus Mallon walked the main street together to express their horror and condolences. It was a moment that made the Agreement possible.

Later the same year, after the Omagh bomb, David attended the funeral mass for the three young children from Buncrana who were among those murdered in the single worst atrocity of our Troubles, despite being a member of the Orange Order that forbid participation in a catholic service.

These are just two small examples of leadership that understood there is a greater good, that putting our people before party interest is the only path to a better future.

With David gone, along with Seamus and John Hume, this is a dark moment for our society, but today our thoughts must be with his now widow Daphne, and children Richard, Victoria, Sarah and Nicholas.

Mike Nesbitt, UUP MLA