ULSTER PROTESTANTS ARE mostly regarded by the English populace as not a very bright lot, being invariably caricatured as bellicose, pig-headed, Biblebashing blockheads. At the most benign estimation, Ulstermen are perceived as philistine businessmen and farmers who are suspicious of cultural or bookish pursuits; at the most malign, the 'danders' can only see tattooed thugs who are too fond of marching in strange outfits through other people's areas and banging very big drums.

David Trimble bucks this trend. He is an opera-loving legal scholar who speaks French and German, and who can freely quote Arnold Toynbee and Solzhenitsyn in his speeches. Nevertheless, he is also the leader of the Ulster Unionist party and a member of the Orange Order. As Dean Godson reminds