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Meeting Myself Coming Back

Factual: Life Stories

High-profile figures, in conversation with John Wilson, replay their own sound archive

High-profile figures, in conversation with John Wilson, replay their own sound archive and use it as a basis for a re-examination of their lives

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Meeting Myself Coming Back: Series 5

Meeting Myself Coming Back: Episode 3: David Trimble

David Trimble

Episode 3

Episode 3: David Trimble

BBC Radio 4 - Meeting Myself Coming Back, David Trimble

Former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble meets his younger self in the archives.

Former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble meets his younger self in the sound archives, and discusses his reaction with John Wilson.

Former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble - now Lord Trimble- meets his younger self in the sound archives and discusses his reaction with John Wilson.

From civil servant and law student to one of the key players in the Good Friday Agreement and now a Conservative peer, the career of David Trimble has been hugely eventful. He began his political career as a member of the hardline Vanguard party, backing its leader William Craig. When it disbanded in the 1970s, it seemed as if he might be out in the political wilderness for good.

But he joined the Ulster Unionist Party, became an MP and ultimately went on to lead his party. In 1998 he won the Nobel Peace Prize together with the SDLP's John Hume for his attempts to bring stability to Northern Ireland through the historic Good Friday Agreement.

But arguments over IRA decommissioning of its weapons threatened the peace process. David Trimble continually faced criticism from within his own party and other Unionists for selling out to the Republicans and in 2005 he lost his Westminster seat.

In conversation with John Wilson, Lord Trimble revisits key moments in his career and discusses their significance. We hear his earliest success as a law student, memories of his mentor from the Vanguard party, the machinations that led to the Good Friday Agreement and his thoughts on pursuing peace.


Producer: Emma Kingsley.

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