The Belfast Agreement has lasted for nearly 25 years despite objections to some parts of it, the former Northern Ireland Prime Minister has said.
The peace agreement reached in 1998 saw the creation of the power-sharing assembly in Stormont, which is still in effect today despite not being able to fully function in a stalemate over the Brexit protocol.
Lord Trimble’s role in negotiating the 1998 deal led to his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with then SDLP leader John Hume.
He pondered the deal at Queen’s University Monday night as he attended the unveiling of a new portrait of him.
The event featured video messages from ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair and former US President Bill Clinton.
Colin Davidson’s artwork will hang in the University’s Great Hall, along with other notable alumni such as Seamus Heaney, Mary McAleese, and former Chancellor Senator George Mitchell.
Lord Trimble graduated from Queen’s in 1968 and pursued an academic career at the Faculty of Law before becoming Ulster Unionist leader and taking a leading role in negotiating the agreement.
He told PA news agency: “The Good Friday Agreement is something that everyone in Northern Ireland has agreed on, it doesn’t mean they agree with everything, there are aspects that some people thought was a mistake, but the basic thing is that this was agreed upon.
“There it is. People don’t actually shred the agreement, their complaints are still based on the existence of the agreement. They don’t say ‘throw it away’, so you have to keep that in mind.”
The Assembly is currently unable to function fully as the DUP refuses to appoint ministers until the UK government takes action on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Unionists oppose the protocol, which expects Northern Ireland to enforce EU customs laws to avoid imposing a land border on the island of Ireland.
Lord Trimble described a “simple solution”.
“Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, so the United Kingdom must keep Northern Ireland,” he said.
“What we have at the moment is something the UK doesn’t include Northern Ireland in.”
He criticized it as “indefensible” that the people of Northern Ireland have no say in the protocol arrangements.
Former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern was among the guests who attended Riddel Hall for the unveiling of the portrait.
He paid tribute to Lord Trimble and said he had great admiration for him, although he admitted that “we would argue that sometimes black was white”.
“At the same time, we worked together to implement the agreement, to try to ensure that the people here have a better future,” he said.
“I think he was a brave man, he never blinked. He was under tremendous pressure for months…he saw at that stage the opportunity for real peace and real institutions.”
Mr Ahern compared the current situation to that of then and said that while negotiations were tough at the time, “there does not appear to be any negotiations”.
“That’s the sad part,” he said. “(The current problems) are not insurmountable, the only way to solve problems in political life is negotiation. then you were in the wrong business.
“Hopefully the current population of politicians will someday wake up and say that negotiating is a better way than arguing.”
In some ways we wouldn’t have the same peace in this place without people like him
Mr Davidson said growing up in Northern Ireland saw Lord Trimble as a key player at “a very critical time in our history”.
“I was very aware that as an artist I had a responsibility to paint someone who played a huge part in bringing us where we are today,” he said.
“Very important in bringing about peace and so when names like Bill Clinton, George Mitchell, Tony Blair, John Hume and Bertie Ahern are mentioned, David Trimble is there too.
“In some ways, we wouldn’t have the same peace in this place without people like him.”
Lady Trimble expressed her admiration for the portrait and said it had captured her husband in a moment of reflection.
Queen’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Greer, given Lord Trimble’s academic and political career, said: “It is fitting that we recognize him in this appropriate way.”