Bertie Ahern: I had many a row with David Trimble but I never fell out with him

Former Northern Ireland first minister David Trimble has died, aged 77.

Speaking on Irish broadcaster RTE, Mr Ahern said: “He was a courageous and I had many a row with him and many arguments and in more recent years we’ve had good laughs about those debates. But he was tough.

“As a good negotiator I think when he made the deal, when he settled something, he stuck by it. Subsequently he paid the price. And in spite of the horrendous problems that he was under from within his own party and from outside the wider unionist group, in that last week of the Good Friday agreement he stuck by it.

“He got a lot of criticism from the wider unionist family but you know, I have great admiration for him.”

Mr Ahern recalled his first visit to the unionist headquarters with Mr Trimble on Glengall Street in Belfast in 1995: “That day, we said, listen, should we give this a try? If it works, it’s good. If it doesn’t, you know, let’s not fall out too much.

“I never fell out with him: fought with him, rowed with him and argued with him. But I think we had the one determination: that we would end violence in Northern Ireland.”

Meanwhile, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has expressed his “deep regret” at David Trimble’s passing and extended his “sincere condolences” to his widow Daphne, their children, and his former UUP colleagues.

In a statement Mr Adams said: “David faced huge challenges when he led the Ulster Unionist Party in the Good Friday Agreement negotiations and persuaded his party to sign on for it. It is to his credit that he supported that Agreement. I thank him for that.

“In the years immediately following the Agreement I met David many times. Our conversations were not always easy but we made progress. We used to meet quite often on our own and I got to know him quite well. While we held fundamentally different political opinions on the way forward nonetheless I believe he was committed to making the peace process work.

“David’s contribution to the Good Friday Agreement and to the quarter century of relative peace that followed cannot be underestimated. I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Daphne Trimble, their daughters Victoria and Sarah, their sons Richard and Nicholas and to the entire family circle. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis”.