August 2020. World leaders have paid tribute to John Hume, the former SDLP leader, Nobel peace prize winner and leading player in the Northern Ireland peace process, who has died aged 83. His death marks the passing of one of the most important Irish political leaders of the 20th century whose ideas of compromise, opposition to violence and cross-community outreach underpinned the principles of the 1998 Good Friday agreement Hume was described on Monday as “the man who kept hope alive” during the darkest days of the Northern Ireland Troubles as world leaders led tributes to him. The former US president Bill Clinton released a joint statement with his wife Hillary paying tribute to “our friend” who “fought his long war for peace in Northern Ireland”. “His chosen weapon: an unshakeable commitment to non-violence, persistence, kindness and love. With his enduring sense of honour he kept marching on against all odds towards a brighter future for all the children of Northern Ireland.” The statement added: “His legacy will live on in every generation of Northern Ireland’s young people who make John’s choice to live free of the hatred and horror of sectarian violence.” When certain magical people pass away, there’s this moment of I don’t know, ‘Magic’? A Great Man has passed and the World has Lost one of their own.
Aug 2020. Tributes to John Hume
