Nobel Prize: The gladiator who learnt conciliation

WHEN DAVID Trimble was elected leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, three short years ago in September 1995, there is no doubt that most of those who voted for him believed they were choosing a gladiator rather than a conciliator.

His distant past, in the Seventies, had included a phase where he favoured sharing power with nationalists and was thus seen as a moderate. Ever since, however, he had been aligned with the hard right of the party, associating with some of its most uncompromising elements.

He was the most militant of the five candidates for the leadership of his party. He was seen, above all, as the hero of Drumcree, the by-now annual Portadown marching controversy which in that year was seen as an Orange victory over nationalism. Mr Trimble had been pictured with the Rev Ian Paisley, their hands clasped in the air.

The supreme irony, therefore, is that a man specifically chosen not to praise the peace process but to bury it should receive an international accolade for his part in advancing its cause. In the event, a leader chosen for his talent for resistance has wound up exercising instead a talent for participation.

Although his Unionist critics allege inconsistency, it may come to be seen that his unexpected adaptability will serve the cause better in the long run. When he took over, the first IRA ceasefire was on the slide, and the then prime minister John Major hoped to secure Mr Trimble's support in the Commons.

Within two years, however, all had changed utterly, and Mr Trimble was confronted by an entirely different situation. The IRA was back on ceasefire, a weak Mr Major had been replaced by a strong Tony Blair, and the world expected serious negotiations in Northern Ireland.

Many Unionists favoured walking away from the table but Mr Trimble had the foresight to see that this would lead to arctic isolation, and the British and Irish governments and all the other elements would work out something in his absence. And that something was highly unlikely to advance the Unionist cause.

Staying was, therefore, the courageous, and intelligent, thing to do. His action meant that the Good Friday Agreement could come about, containing as it did something for all sides. Endorsing it meant standing up to Mr Paisley and to his opponents within his own party: his battles within Unionism are likely to last for many years ahead.

As a comparatively inexperienced leader he has yet to develop a smooth managerial manner with colleagues. The workings of his mind remain a mystery even to some of his closest associates, as indeed they must to many of those who elected him leader in 1995.

The central unanswered question is whether he believes he can succeed in constructing an executive that excludes Sinn Fein.He has already developed what looks like a good working relationship with Seamus Mallon of the Social Democratic and Labour Party; the issue of whether he can do likewise with Gerry Adams remains unresolved.

DAVID MCKITTRICK

David

Trimble

Born 15 October 1944

Ulster Unionist MP for Upper Bann since 1990

Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party since 1995

Married Daphne Orr 1978 (two sons, two daughters)