The First Minister of Northern Ireland, Mr David Trimble, will be awarded the Legion d'Honneur in Paris this evening. Mr Trimble will be made an officer of the prestigious legion at a ceremony in the French Foreign Ministry. Mr Trimble's wife, Daphne, is expected to attend, as well as the British Ambassador to France, Sir Michael Jay, and the Irish Ambassador, Mr Patrick O'Connor. Last month Mr Trimble's fellow Nobel prize-winner, the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, also received the award from the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Mr Pierre Moscovici, in a similar ceremony.
On that occasion the French Minister said the medal was France's homage "to one of this century's great militants for peace". The Legion d'Honneur is the highest award in France.