JOHN HUME
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, EDUCATOR & POLITICAL ACTIVIST
G'day folks,
Welcome to some facts about John Hume. John Hume, KCSG is an Irish former politician from Derry, Northern
Ireland. He was a founding member of the Social Democratic and Labour
Party, and was co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David
Trimble.
“I never thought in terms of being a leader. I
thought very simply in terms of helping people.”
—John Hume
John Hume
was born January 18, 1937, in Derry, Ireland. After working as a teacher and
civil rights activist, he entered politics and was leader of the Social Democratic
and Labour Party in Northern Ireland from 1979 to 2001. He served in the
British Parliament from 1983 and the European Parliament from 1979; he was a
member of the Northern Ireland Assembly 1998–2000. For his work in bringing
about a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland, in 1998 he and
David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, were awarded the Nobel
Prize for Peace.
Division
John Hume
was born on January 18, 1937, in Derry, Northern Ireland, a border city sharply
divided along religious and political lines. The oldest child in his family,
Hume was raised in an environment of inequality and discrimination that was the
lot for the Roman Catholic minority living under British rule and amidst an
often-hostile Protestant majority. Profoundly affected by his experiences, Hume
became determined to help alleviate the injustices in his community.
After
initially considering the priesthood, Hume chose to study history and French at
the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, as well as in France. He
graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree in 1964, at
which point he returned to Northern Ireland and found work as a teacher in a
secondary school. Through education, Hume sought to help narrow the economic
and social divisions in his country and give others the opportunity to lift
themselves up.
Activism
Not
satisfied with education alone, after returning home Hume became interested in
the credit union movement and was one of the founding members of the Derry Credit
Union, which issued loans at reasonable rates to those who might not otherwise
qualify. Hume remained involved in the movement and would later serve as
president of the Credit Union League of Ireland. He was also instrumental in
the forming of the Derry Housing Association, an organization that built new
homes in the area to help alleviate the housing shortage. Despite the group’s
magnanimous intentions, their activities soon raised the ire of the local
government, who feared that changing the area’s demographics would threaten
their political advantage as well.
Unable to
overcome their opposition to his projects, in the late 1960s Hume turned to the
streets and employed a method of nonviolent protest inspired by the American
civil rights movement to try to effect change in the region. However, his
peaceful campaign was met with harsh and sometimes violent counterprotests that
resulted in both his brief detainment and the involvement of the British Army,
which was brought in to quell the unrest.
Politics
Taking
the next step in his crusade, in 1969 Hume won a seat on the Northern Ireland
Parliament and the following year founded the Social and Democratic Labour
Party (SDLP) for the purpose of unifying Ireland through peaceful means and
nonsectarian politics. Hume and the SDLP would win their first victory in 1971,
when the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was created to manage matters of
public housing independently of local divisions. Sadly, this progress was
marred by the intensification of the Irish Troubles, which saw violent attacks
on both sides of the religious and political divide and in 1972 resulted in
Britain re-implementing direct rule of Northern Ireland.
Despite
these setbacks, Hume continued his political advocacy throughout the 1970s and
in 1979 became leader of the SDLP. He was also chosen to represent Northern
Ireland in the European Parliament. Hume made further gains in 1983, when he
was elected to British Parliament, a vote of confidence for his moderate
politics, which stood in contrast to the more-extremist views of other parties.
Peace
In these
more international posts, Hume was able to make significant strides toward his
vision of a peaceful and unified Ireland, lobbying British and American
politicians to help him achieve his goals. His efforts are considered
instrumental in bringing about the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985, which allowed
for the Republic of Ireland to assume a direct advisory role in Northern
Ireland politics on the condition that the future of the government could only
be decided by a majority consensus.
But
perhaps Hume’s greatest achievement began later that decade, when in 1988 he
initiated secret talks with Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Féin party,
a more hardline group that advocated for the ousting of British rule and the
unification of Ireland. The two men met several times between then and 1993,
resulting in the Hume-Adams statement, which called for improved relations
between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as well as with England.
This arrangement, though harshly criticized on both sides of the political
divide, ultimately led to the 1994 ceasefire between Unionist paramilitary
groups and the IRA, both of whom had been responsible for much of the violence
in previous decades.
This
progress was further bolstered when newly elected Unionist leader David Trimble agreed to meet with Hume and
members of the government in Ireland. In 1997, Sinn Féin would join the talks
as well, and from it was spawned the so-called Good Friday agreement of 1998,
which was ratified in an island-wide vote and effectively brought an end to the
Troubles by establishing a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. For
his important work in bringing the measure to fruition, Hume (along with David
Trimble) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
After
Hume
continued to serve in the governments of Northern Ireland, Britain the European
Union until 2004, when he retired from politics. However, he remains active in
the international credit union and is involved in charity work to combat
poverty around the world. He also serves as the president of the Derry City
Football Club, of which he has been a lifelong supporter.
Clancy's comment: Another man with some get up and go. Like those types of guys.
I'm ...
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