Frank Millar’s first full length book (Newshound) is, in effect, a lengthy interrogation of David Trimble a man whose name will be for ever associated with the Belfast Agreement. In accordance with his reputation as a journlalist, Millar is patient and thorough, and spares his subject no blushes. Over the next few days, I’ll be teasing out some of the highlights of the book, drawn from a series of exhaustive interviews over the summer of 2004.
For many nationalists of all shades at the time, Trimble always seemed a conflicted character: committed to the pragmatic need for a political solution, but still not desparately keen on having Catholics about the place. To this day, there remains considerable scepticism about his motives.
Millar draws him out on the concept of reconciliation:
Trimble goes on:
I thought we were much more likely to gradually evolve to a society where people were more comfortable and where the differentials would be less of an issue. Differences in society, differences in religious belief and identity are not necessarily a bad thing. What you should try and do is try and diffuse the political clash and have a situation where we no longer have religion and community identity coaligned with political views.
A slightly inhuman presence that bans bad comments and works late at night to remove the wrinkles in Slugger’s technical carpet. You will need to know about the comments policy to stay off the fightin’ side of me and there is a bit of background about me here. You can email me using this spam-proof link if you really need to, and Slugger is @sluggerotoole on Twitter. But above all, remember, Play the ball and not the man.