John Hume – Slugger O'Toole

Interview with Damian Gorman, the author of a new play about John Hume…

Noel McAdam on March 28, 2023, 2:59 pm

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At first glance, John Hume might seem the last politician you would make a musical about. With respect to each and all of them, a song and dance show on Ian Paisley could, of course, have a core of gospel, tree-hugging beardie Gerry Adams’ might rock go to a hippie beat and David, Lord Trimble most likely needs an Elvis soundtrack, with a touch of Wagner. But Hume was not always associated with music – apart of course from The …

The Forgotten Tribe – British MEPs

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on February 6, 2023, 11:46 am

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Watch back the recent panel discussion about the work and legacy of Northern Ireland’s MEPs, organised by IACES on the back of the publication of “The Forgotten Tribe – British MEPs”. Jim Nicholson, Giada Lagana, David Harley and Carl Whyte, chared by Viviane Gravey.

Official portrait of John Hume unveiled at Westminster…

Brian O'Neill on November 9, 2022, 7:55 am

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A graceful gesture from the UK Parliament. Press release below: following a commission from the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art. Painted by the critically acclaimed Northern Irish artist Colin Davidson, the portrait of the former MP for Foyle will hang in Portcullis House, one of the busiest buildings on the Parliamentary Estate, and marks the contribution the Nobel Peace Prize winner made during his 22 years as a Westminster MP. Painted over a number of weeks at Davidson’s …

Pat Hume RIP

David McCann on September 3, 2021, 10:35 am

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Pat Hume, wife of former SDLP Leader, John Hume, sadly passed away yesterday. She was one half of an incredibly influential and effective partnership with her late husband. The Hume family have put out the following statement; We are heartbroken to announce the death of Pat Hume at home in Derry earlier this afternoon after a short illness. Pat died as she lived – surrounded by family, peacefully and generous to the end. Pat spent some days in the hospital …

David O’Sullivan: The EU at 70 – still going strong?

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on May 10, 2021, 10:20 pm

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Watch back this evening’s Hume Foundation inaugural European Spirit of Peace Lecture, delivered by David O’Sullivan (former EU ambassador to the US) which looked at the EU 70 years on and asked whether it was going strong. He had cautionary words for those conflating the Irish constitutional issue with practical aspects of the NI Protocol which he said was “unhelpful” and could “destabilise many in the Unionist community”.

Watch the launch of the John and Pat Hume Foundation today at 11am…

Brian O'Neill on November 13, 2020, 10:23 am

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A foundation in the name of former Nobel Peace Prize Winner, John Hume, and his wife Pat Hume, will launch today at 11am. The John and Pat Hume Foundation will seek to advance non-violent and peaceful change-making for present and future generations in divided societies and support and inspire leadership for peaceful change at home and across the world through a series of outreach and support programmes. The Foundation’s Leadership and Board is composed of people, from diverse backgrounds and communities, …

Where are the activists?

Jay Burbank on October 1, 2020, 8:19 am

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Recently I have been reading quite extensively about the period between 1960-69. In Derry the bubble of ‘bottled resentment’ was spilling over into near riot and civil breakdown well before the establishment of NICRA in 1967. Hume was very active in the street politics of this time, however he didn’t enter elected office until 1969 when he beat the long-standing figure of nationalism Eddie McAteer. On his defeat he conceded that the ‘old guard’ of nationalism had been replaced by …

#InConversation podcast with Tim Attwood on the life and legacy of John Hume…

Brian O'Neill on August 22, 2020, 9:24 am

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Tim Attwood was an SDLP councillor and party worker who knew John Hume well. We discuss Hume’s early years, the setting up the Derry credit Union as well and John’s business ventures with a Donegal Fish Smoking House. We move on to the importance Hume placed on his Irish American connections and how he saw it as crucial to get investment into Northern Ireland. We also discuss what Hume was like at a personal level. His sweet tooth and love …

Slugger TV – Remembering John Hume

David McCann on August 4, 2020, 11:17 pm

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I was joined by SDLP Councillor and former Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, John Boyle, as well as Irish News journalist Allison Morris and former BBC NI political editor Stephen Grimason to discuss the life, politics and legacy of John Hume. Recorded and edited by Alan Meban @alaninbelfast. David McCannDavid McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster. You can follow him on twitter @dmcbfs

Hume’s origin story: fighting injustice at every corner…

Jay Burbank on August 3, 2020, 9:14 pm

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It is incumbent upon us all to remember what propelled a young teacher in Derry into frontline politics and change the face of Northern Ireland forever. The young teacher was John Hume, born into a working-class catholic family he had been given opportunities not afforded to generations before and attended University. In the words of that other Derry giant (Gerry Anderson) his generation of queens’ graduates [para] “went away to university, learned about the country they lived in and came …

John Hume: A Story Not Yet Fully Told

Soapbox on August 3, 2020, 7:31 pm

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John Hume chose to live with purpose. He was steadfast in his determination to see peace and a better life, not only for those from his own community, but for all people across the island of Ireland. Elected a Member of the European Parliament in 1979, he would go on to serve as MP for Foyle from 1983 to 2005, and member of the Legislative Assembly for the same constituency between 1998 and 2000. He defined future generations opportunities when …

John Hume’s vision, ambition, and his unstinting/stubborn belief in man’s potential…

Mick Fealty on August 3, 2020, 1:04 pm

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“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” Goethe’s quotation, a long held favourite of mine, is a good summation of John Hume’s career as any I’ve come across. What else he had planned for the rest of his life, in 1969 he caught sight of …

RTE’s celebration of John Hume feels like nostalgia for a time that has gone

Brian Walker on August 7, 2018, 8:59 pm

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RTE have just screened a documentary In the Name of Peace; John Hume in America by Maurice Fitzpatrick which the film maker has kindly drawn to my attention. Being in London I cannot access it yet nor have I read his accompanying book. But from the YouTube trail, this is a major celebration of John Hume’s life and work. Anybody who was anybody is in it, led by Clinton and Blair, although Jimmy Carter was not quite so dazzled. As …

1991: Negotiating a Strand 2 talks venue + complaints that Paisley was locked out of his toilet #20YearRule

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 29, 2017, 12:09 am

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One single buff-coloured file, three or four inches thick, contains the stapled minutes of NIO meetings with political parties in May 1991 as they negotiated about the strand one, two and three talks. While perhaps the single most frustrating file I’ve flicked through in PRONI over the last couple of years, the level of detail in the civil service minutes of meetings is incredible, and the retention of humorous asides provides a lot of colour about the characters involved and their relationships.

John Hume, a thumbnail sketch of achievement and failure

Brian Walker on January 18, 2017, 4:17 pm

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I’ve never been quite sure if we can call John Hume an unvarnished nationalist, but if we do, he was a great example of a leading nationalist who wanted to reach agreement more than attain the goal of Irish unity, as expressed in his wonderful oxymoron, “ an agreed Ireland.” While he enjoyed his hard- won international contacts, he remained unassuming, friendly and well grounded. Like many accomplished politicians he was less well regarded in some places where it mattered. …

John Hume’s 80th Birthday – The Martin Luther King Jnr of Ireland

Soapbox on January 18, 2017, 12:53 pm

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Bono in his song ‘In The Name of Love’ sang about Martin Luther King Jnr about how “One Man Came In Love”. Today we celebrate the 80th birthday of the Martin Luther King of Ireland, one man who came in love and preached a message of peace, tolerance and accommodation. It is a sad irony that in the week that the institutions in the North collapse in acrimony and rancour, the man who towered over the chaos of the Troubles …

1990: NIO track internal SDLP disquiet between senior figures #20yearrule

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on December 31, 2016, 11:01 am

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RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING – Reading through two newly released files documenting “Political Developments in NI” from 1989 and 1990, you get a feel for the sheer number of documented conversations between senior SDLP figures and officials in the NIO about the tensions in the leadership around the talks process.

Mallon says Sinn Fein played Hume like “3lb trout”

David McCann on December 28, 2015, 9:59 am

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Seamus Mallon has been speaking to Talkback (interview to be played later today on Radio Ulster) where he reflects on his career and comments on his views about his then party leader, John Hume. Speaking to William Crawley, the BBC reports; John Hume was “no fool” but that Sinn Féin leaders played him “like a 3lb trout”. Mr Hume’s presence gave republicans a status almost validating what they did in the previous 30 years, he said. Mr Mallon reiterated previous …

John Hume: Irish peacemaker. Discuss.

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on December 17, 2015, 6:37 pm

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John Hume: Irish peacemaker. Discuss. by Allan Leonard for Northern Ireland Foundation 15 December 2015 Sean Farren and Denis Haughey have edited a new book, John Hume: Irish Peacemaker, published by Four Courts Press. As part of this book launch, there is a series of panel discussions, for which this event took place at the Canada Room, Queen’s University Belfast. Moderated by Jim Fitzpatrick, the panellists were Arthur Aughey, Marianne Elliott, Maurice Hayes and Eamon Phoenix. After a welcome by …

McDonnell: As party leader the buck stops with me #SDLP14

David McCann on November 16, 2014, 1:03 pm

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As things wrapped up on Saturday and the exhibitors were packing up I caught up with the SDLP Leader, Alasdair McDonnell MP. Throughout the day I had heard criticism that the conference was a little flat, so I began by asking about how he felt the mood of the conference was? McDonnell detected a sense of hope and energy in the Ramada as around a third of the delegates were attending the conference for the first time. For him, this …