Biography

Politician and Co-Recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize

John Hume was born in Derry on the 18th January 1937.

He started his career as a secondary school teacher but the chronic social problems of the time in Northern Ireland politicised him and he became the founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (S.D.L.P.) holding the position of leader from 1979 until 200l. He is widely respected and regarded as one of the leading figures behind the peace process, from the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. He has served as a Member of the European Parliament and a Member of Parliament for Foyle as well as member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

As co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with David Trimble, his leading role in the Northern Ireland peace process was acknowledged on the international stage. He was also the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize and the Martin Luther King Award, and is the only person to have been awarded these three major peace awards.

Miriam O'Callaghan Biography:

Miriam O'Callaghan is one of Ireland's most popular and recognisable personalities. As a journalist for both RTE & BBC, Miriam reported widely on the Troubles and the Peace Process. She believes passionately in Hume's greatness: "He helped bring about a peace that has changed the lives of everyone on this island: a peace that goes right to the heart of centuries of division on this island".

Why Miriam feels John Hume is "Ireland's Greatest":

Tenacity
His friends call it his "stickability": logically analysing & understanding not only the problem, but the solution; working out the way forward and repeating it as a mantra, like a teacher, until everyone else saw the light: a formula for peace.

Bravery
His life was in constant threat... his house & car firebombed... his house daubed with the word "traitor"... his family living in constant fear. He was attacked from all sides, yet stuck to his peaceful principles and his political beliefs: he felt it was the best chance for peace in a generation, and nobody was going to stop him.

Compassion
The Great-Grandson of a Scottish Protestant and an Irish Catholic, respect for different traditions courses through John Hume's blood. In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, he said: "Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace - respect for diversity."

Genius
Hume had the political genius & foresight to take a civil rights struggle in a tiny province on the edge of Europe onto the World Stage. Over 30 years, he slowly and quietly developed relationships with America and Europe, who then used their muscle & influence to back up his ideas. He was able to turn one meeting with Senator Edward Kennedy in 1972 into a lifelong friendship with America: he has had the ear of every US President since Jimmy Carter.

Non-Violence
"The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind": John Hume lived by Dr. King's quote. While radicalism and violence swept the North, and the entire islands of Ireland and Britain, Hume stuck to the peaceful middle ground. Not only is he one of very few with no blood on his hands, he was almost singularly responsible for taking blood off the streets.

Intellect
An uncommon intellect allied to his common decency meant that John Hume saw the conflict not in terms of borders and land, but in terms of people, and respect: living for ideals rather than dying for them. He always knew the way forward depended on consensus, compromise, and good old fashioned talking to one another. His Infamous Three Strands: 1: Nationalists talking to Unionists; 2: The North talking to The South; 3: Ireland talking to Britain.

Legacy
John Hume not only helped bring an end to the Troubles in the North, he fundamentally changed attitudes on the 800 years of bitterness and strife that have blighted this island. Because of him, every single person on the entire island of Ireland lives in a better place. His hero, Martin Luther King, said "We Shall Overcome"... John Hume DID overcome.