Guernsey Press

John Hume hailed as Ireland’s Martin Luther King

The former SDLP leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner died on Monday morning after a long battle with dementia

Published
Last updated

Former SDLP leader John Hume has been hailed as Ireland’s Martin Luther King after his death at the age of 83.

Mr Hume was a key architect of Northern Ireland’s historic Good Friday peace agreement and was awarded the Nobel Prize for the decisive part he played in ending the Troubles.

The former Foyle MP, who had dementia and in recent years had lived in a care home in Londonderry, died in the early hours of Monday morning.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson described Mr Hume as a “political giant”, while Irish premier Micheal Martin said he was a “great hero and a true peacemaker”.

Former prime minister Tony Blair hailed Mr Hume’s “epic” contribution to the peace process and former US president Bill Clinton insisted his legacy would live on.

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill also paid tribute.

Current SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, who represents the Foyle seat Mr Hume held for two decades, said the island had lost its most significant and consequential political figure of the 20th century.

John Hume death
Colum Eastwood signing a book of condolence at Guildhall in Derry (Liam McBurney/PA)

“John Hume was our Martin Luther King,” he said.

“He was the greatest Irishman ever and he achieved something that no one could ever achieve before him: he ended the Anglo-Irish conflict, the conflict that had gone on for 800 years, and he gave my generation the opportunity to achieve our political goals peacefully and democratically, and that is an enormous legacy.”

Mr Hume, a former MEP for Northern Ireland, was a founding member of the party he went on to lead for 22 years.

He was a key figure in the civil rights campaigns of the late 1960s and also played a leading role in the formation of the credit union movement in his home city.

Throughout his political career he remained steadfast in his commitment to non-violence.

His participation in secret talks with then Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams in the late 1980s and early 1990s was a key catalyst for the nascent peace process.

The SDLP leader faced intense criticism, including some from within his own party, when his dialogue with Mr Adams became public in 1993.

Despite threats to his life, he persisted with his efforts to engage with the republican movement and to convince the IRA to end its campaign of violence.

On Monday, Mr Adams paid tribute to Mr Hume’s “bravery” and “persistence”.

“We have all lost a friend,” he said.

Along with Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, now Lord Trimble, Mr Hume was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to stopping the bloodshed.

In 2010, Mr Hume was named “Ireland’s Greatest” in a poll by Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE.

His death comes just six months after that of fellow Good Friday architect and long-time SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon.

Ulster Blair / Trimble / Hume
Prime Minister Tony Blair (centre) with (left) David Trimble and John Hume on the last day of campaigning for a Yes vote in the referendum in the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 (Chris Bacon/PA)

“John Hume was quite simply a political giant,” he said.

“He stood proudly in the tradition that was totally opposed to violence and committed to pursuing his objectives by exclusively peaceful and democratic means.”

The Prime Minister added: “With his passing we have lost a great man who did so much to help bring an end to the Troubles and build a better future for all.

“His vision paved the way for the stability, positivity and dynamism of the Northern Ireland of today, and his passing is a powerful reminder of how far Northern Ireland has come.”

John Hume death
A couple look at a mural in the Bogside of Derry City that shows John Hume and others important figures from the civil rights era (Liam McBurney/PA)

“Throughout his long life he exhibited not just courage, but also fortitude, creativity and an utter conviction that democracy and human rights must define any modern society,” he said.

Mr Blair said Mr Hume was a “political titan”.

“A visionary who refused to believe the future had to be the same as the past,” he said.

“His contribution to peace in Northern Ireland was epic and he will rightly be remembered for it.

“He was insistent it was possible, tireless in pursuit of it, and endlessly creative in seeking ways of making it happen.”

Bill Clinton in Ulster
Bill Clinton with John Hume and his wife Pat as they walk along Derry’s Peace Bridge (Paul Faith/PA)

“His chosen weapon: an unshakeable commitment to non-violence, persistence, kindness and love,” he said.

“With his enduring sense of honour he kept marching on against all odds towards a brighter future for all the children of Northern Ireland.

“Through his faith in principled compromise, and his ability to see his adversaries as human beings, John helped forge the peace that has held to this day.”

Irish President Michael D Higgins said Mr Hume had transformed and remodelled politics in Ireland.

“All of those who sought and worked for peace on our island of Ireland, and in the hearts of all, will have been deeply saddened by the passing of John Hume, Nobel Peace Laureate and statesman,” he said.

John Hume death
Tributes left in front of a mural in the Bogside of Derry City that shows John Hume, one of the key architects of peace in Northern Ireland, after his death at the age of 83 (Liam McBurney/PA

In a statement, Mr Hume’s family said: “John was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather and a brother. He was very much loved, and his loss will be deeply felt by all his extended family.

“It seems particularly apt for these strange and fearful days to remember the phrase that gave hope to John and so many of us through dark times: we shall overcome.”

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.