David Trimble remembered: ‘He rose to seemingly impossible tasks with integrity’ - Rev Dr Charles McMullen

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Micheal Martin were among those who were at Harmony Hill Presbyterian Church in Lisburn, Co Antrim, for the funeral of the former first minister.

Irish President Michael D Higgins, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill also attended the service in Lambeg.

Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was also in the church as was Secretary of State Shailesh Vara, NIO Minister Conor Burns and representatives from all the main political parties in Northern Ireland.

A crowd of roughly 100 people gathered outside the church to hear the service which was relayed on loudspeaker.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Lord Trimble died last week at the age of 77 following an illness.

The former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party played a key role in forging the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement that ended decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.

Months after the deal was signed, the peer, from Co Down, was jointly awarded the Nobel prize with late SDLP leader John Hume in recognition of their efforts to stop the bloodshed and establish a power-sharing system of devolved governance.

Today the Stormont Assembly will reconvene for a special sitting to pay tribute to Lord Trimble.

The institutions are currently on ice, with the DUP blocking the creation of an administration in protest at Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.

Lord Trimble’s widow, Lady Daphne, took her place in the front row as the coffin was carried into the church by their sons and daughters.

Minister Rev Fiona Forbes welcomed mourners to the service.

She said: “The array of those who have gathered today to pay their respects bears witness not only to David’s impact on the political landscape of which he was so much a part, but also to the imprints he left upon the same, and to the legacy he left all of us.

“Of course, we come to remember an academic, a party leader, a peacemaker, a Nobel laureate, the first to serve in the role of first minister in the new Northern Ireland Executive established as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

“But we also come to remember a husband, father, and grandfather, a brother, brother-in-law and uncle, a colleague, a committed member of this church family, and a friend.”

Lord Trimble’s eldest son, Richard, has thanked the public for their sympathies and kind words following the death of his father.

Rev Dr Charles McMullen told mourners that Lord Trimble’s actions had allowed a generation in Northern Ireland to grow up in “relative peace”.

Delivering a tribute at the service, the former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland said: “Alongside others, he rose to seemingly impossible challenges with considerable strength of character, intellectual acumen, and complete integrity.

“The reward for all of us has been a radically changed landscape here in Northern Ireland, which has saved many lives and allowed a generation to grow up in relative peace.

“As so many have said over these past few days, history will be exceedingly kind to David even if life brought many unrelenting pressures and demands.”