The proposed “backstop” on the Brexit withdrawal agreement is often defended on the grounds that it is necessary to maintain the Good Friday agreement. But is it rather the opposite? Meanwhile, former Sinn Féin chairman Gerry Adams Hume described the “giant of Irish politics”. He acknowledged that the couple had “a lot of disagreements,” but said they were able to speak out to “promote the primacy of politics.” Disputes over the timing and extent of the IRA`s (disarmament) dismantling stalled the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement until Trimble, backed by IRA concessions, convinced the Ulster Unionist Council, the UUP`s governing body, to allow it to share power with Sinn Féin in 1999 and again in 2000. In July 2001, Trimble was briefly the prime minister to resign and accuses the IRA of failing to comply with its closure agreement.