Former Northern Ireland Prime Minister David Trimble, a pro-British leader and 1998 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his key role in ending three decades of bloodshed in the region, has died at the age of 77, according to his family on Monday.
"It is with great sadness that the family of Lord Trimble announce that he passed away peacefully earlier today following a short illness," Trimble's family said in a statement published by his Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).
Trimble and John Hume, a former leader of the Socialist Labor Party, were jointly awarded the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for their role in helping to end the sectarian violence that has killed more than 3,600 people.
"David Trimble was a man of courage and vision. He chose to grasp the opportunity for peace when it presented itself and sought to end the decades of violence that blighted his beloved Northern Ireland," Doug Beattie, the leader of the UUP said.
"He will forever be associated with the leadership he demonstrated in the negotiations that led up to the 1998 Belfast Agreement," he added.
Brandon Lewis, who until recently was Britain's minister for Northern Ireland, called Trimble "a brilliant statesman" and said his legacy as an architect of the Good Friday Agreement will live on forever
The people of the UK owe him an immense debt of gratitude for all he achieved for our Union," he wrote in Twitter.
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