John Hume facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Hume
KCSG
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Hume in 1994
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| Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party | |
| In office 6 May 1979 – 6 November 2001 |
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| Deputy | Seamus Mallon |
| Preceded by | Gerry Fitt |
| Succeeded by | Mark Durkan |
| Deputy Leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party | |
| In office 1970 – 6 May 1979 |
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| Leader | Gerry Fitt |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Seamus Mallon |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for Foyle |
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| In office 25 June 1998 – 1 December 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Annie Courtney |
| Member of Parliament for Foyle |
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| In office 9 June 1983 – 11 April 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Mark Durkan |
| Member of the European Parliament for Northern Ireland |
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| In office 10 June 1979 – 13 June 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Bairbre de Brún |
| Member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for Foyle |
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| In office 24 February 1969 – 30 March 1972 |
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| Preceded by | Eddie McAteer |
| Succeeded by | Parliament abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 January 1937 Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 3 August 2020 (aged 83) Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Political party | Social Democratic and Labour Party |
| Spouse |
Pat Hone
(m. 1960) |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | St Patrick's College, Maynooth |
| Profession | Politician |
John Hume (18 January 1937 – 3 August 2020) was an important Irish nationalist politician from Northern Ireland. He is remembered today as a peaceful leader who helped end decades of unrest. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 because he helped create the historic Good Friday Agreement. Hume helped start the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and served as its leader for over twenty years. Over his lifetime, he worked in the Parliament of Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom Parliament, and the European Parliament.
Hume believed that arguments should never be solved by fighting. Instead, he wanted groups with different ideas to sit down and talk peacefully. He worked hard to bring people together, including Ulster unionists who wanted to remain in the United Kingdom and nationalists who wanted a united Ireland. He also asked leaders from the United States and Europe to help support peace in Northern Ireland. Even though he won many famous awards, Hume said he was proudest of helping everyday families save money by creating a local credit union.
Contents
Early Life and Growing Up in Derry
John Hume was born in 1937 into a working-class Catholic family in the city of Derry. He was the oldest of seven children born to Anne Doherty and Samuel Hume. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father was a former soldier and shipyard worker. Most of his family had an Irish Catholic background, but his last name came from a Scottish Presbyterian ancestor who had moved to County Donegal.
When Hume was ten years old, a new law called the 1947 Education Act changed schooling in Northern Ireland. This rule allowed children from working families to win scholarships to attend higher-level schools. Hume earned a place at St Columb's College, which was a well-known grammar school in Derry. Later, he studied at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, a famous college that was part of the National University of Ireland.
At college, Hume learned the Irish language and studied the history of Ulster. One of his teachers was Tomás Ó Fiaich, who later became a cardinal in the church. Another teacher, Monsignor Brendan Devlin, remembered that Hume was curious about why his hometown felt divided. Growing up behind the old walls of Derry, Catholic and Protestant neighbours often lived separated from one another, and fairness was lacking in city government.
Hume decided not to become a priest and graduated in 1958 with a degree in French and history. He returned to Derry to work as a schoolteacher at his old school, St Columb's College. In 1964, he completed a master's degree exploring why many people had emigrated from Derry during the nineteenth century.
Helping the Community and Civil Rights
Starting the Credit Union
In 1960, when he was just twenty-three years old, Hume helped set up the Derry Credit Union. It was the very first cooperative community bank in Northern Ireland. Many families had very little money and had to rely on high-interest moneylenders. The credit union let ordinary neighbours pool their savings to provide low-interest loans to one another.
Hume viewed this community work as practical goodwill in action. The project became hugely successful, and Hume was chosen as the youngest president of the Irish League of Credit Unions. He held that leadership role until 1968. Later in life, he often remarked that starting the credit union was the single best thing he had ever accomplished.
Working for Better Opportunities
In 1963, Hume wrote a script for a television documentary called A City Solitary, shown on both the BBC and RTÉ. The program showed the daily struggles faced by the people living in Derry. Soon after, The Irish Times invited Hume to write two major articles about the future of his community.
In those articles, Hume wrote that a new generation of Catholics wanted to make things better by working inside the political system. They cared about good jobs, better housing, and ending unfair voting maps known as gerrymandering. Hume also said that nationalists should respect the Protestant tradition and that a united Ireland should only happen if a majority agreed.
In 1965, Hume led a campaign called the University for Derry Committee. He joined the city's Unionist mayor, Albert Anderson, and member of parliament Eddie McAteer. Together, they led a protest of twenty-five thousand people to the Stormont parliament in Belfast. They wanted Northern Ireland's second university to be built around Magee College in Derry, but the government chose Coleraine instead.
Hume was also active in a local housing group trying to build clean and modern homes for local families. He spoke at meetings with members of the British Labour Party, arguing that all people deserved fair chances to find housing and work no matter their background.
Peaceful Marches in 1968
On 5 October 1968, a civil rights march took place in Derry organised by local groups and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). People marched to ask for fair voting rights and better housing for everyone. Hume watched the event from the pavement because he preferred strictly peaceful community action.
When the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police force dispersed the crowd, clashes broke out in the Catholic Bogside neighbourhood. A member of parliament named Gerry Fitt was hurt during the commotion. In response, Hume helped form the Citizens' Action Committee and led a peaceful sit-down protest outside the Guildhall. A few weeks later, fifteen thousand people joined another calm march that he helped lead, showing that peaceful voices could be heard.
Entering Politics at Stormont
Becoming an Elected Leader
Because of the protests, the government promised new reforms, such as fairer ways to give out housing. When an election was called in February 1969, Hume decided to run for public office as an independent candidate.
Hume ran in the local Foyle area and won with 55 percent of the vote, beating Eddie McAteer of the Nationalist Party and local campaigner Eamonn McCann of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. A few months later, in August 1969, serious clashes known as the Battle of the Bogside broke out, and Hume worked hard to calm down the angry crowds.
Creating the SDLP
In August 1970, Hume joined five other members of parliament to create the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The other founders were Gerry Fitt, Austin Currie, Paddy Devlin, and civil rights campaigners Ivan Cooper and Paddy O'Hanlon. A senator named Paddy Wilson became their general secretary.
Hume and his friends wanted a party that welcomed everyone and focused on fairness and good jobs. Some wanted the group to be purely socialist, while Hume liked modern social democracy. Other groups, like the Alliance Party, also tried to bring communities together. Hume said his party proved that human rights mattered more than religion because founders like Cooper came from Protestant backgrounds.
However, politics remained tense. In the summer of 1971, Hume grew frustrated when the government led by Brian Faulkner would not hold an inquiry into shootings by the British Army. Hume led the SDLP out of the Stormont parliament, saying the current system was broken and needed major change.
The Search for Power-Sharing
The Sunningdale Agreement
In March 1972, the British government closed down the regional parliament and took direct control of Northern Ireland. Later that year, officials published a Green Paper discussion document called The Future of Northern Ireland. The document agreed with many of Hume's ideas about finding an answer that respected everyone.
In 1973, voters elected a new Northern Ireland Assembly. The SDLP agreed to form a joint government where power would be shared between different groups, a system called power-sharing. Faulkner became the top leader, Fitt became his deputy, and Hume was chosen as the Minister of Commerce.
In December 1973, the leaders signed the Sunningdale Agreement in England. This plan created a new cross-border body called the Council of Ireland. Hume called this forum a table where different traditions could sit down as equals to solve practical problems together.
Collapse of the Executive
Many unionists disliked the Council of Ireland because they worried it would push them into a united country too quickly. In early 1974, an election showed strong opposition to the deal among unionist voters. A group called the Ulster Workers' Council started a large general strike that shut down power stations and transport across Northern Ireland.
Hume wanted the British government to stand firm against the strike, but British minister Merlyn Rees decided not to intervene. In May 1974, Faulkner resigned, and the power-sharing experiment collapsed. This difficult experience convinced Hume that any future peace deal would need international support from places like the United States and Europe.
Building Support Around the World
Leading the SDLP
In 1979, Gerry Fitt stepped down, and John Hume became the leader of the SDLP. Hume was an excellent speaker on television and radio. He always told colleagues never to lose their temper during an interview, because getting angry meant losing the argument.
Working beside Hume was his deputy leader, Seamus Mallon, who helped guide the party for twenty-two years. Hume travelled widely, using his calm speaking style to convince political leaders across the globe to help solve the troubles in Northern Ireland.
Work in the European Parliament
In June 1979, Hume was elected to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, representing Northern Ireland. He held this seat for twenty-five years until retiring in 2004, working within the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
Being in Europe showed Hume that former rivals could live in peace. He pointed to how people in Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands lived together peacefully despite different languages and backgrounds. Hume believed the wider European community proved that respecting diversity made nations stronger.
Even though they had very different views at home, Hume worked alongside fellow European lawmakers from Northern Ireland, including Ian Paisley of the Democratic Unionist Party. Together, they helped secure European money and investments to build new roads and help local businesses in Northern Ireland.
Making Friends in the United States
Hume made frequent visits to the United States to build support for peace. He became close friends with major American leaders, such as House Speaker Tip O'Neill, Senators Ted Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and New York Governor Hugh Carey. Together, these four leaders were nicknamed the "Four Horsemen".
With their help, American president Jimmy Carter promised that the United States would help Northern Ireland economically if peace was reached. Hume also spoke to Irish-American groups, urging them not to send money to groups using violence. He reminded them that real peace required brotherhood between all neighbours.
Walking the Path to Peace
The Anglo-Irish Agreement
During the 1980s, Hume continued to search for political solutions. In 1983, he was elected to the British House of Commons representing the Foyle area. He took part in talks called the New Ireland Forum alongside southern Irish parties like Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Labour Party.
In November 1985, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish leader Garret FitzGerald signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement. This historic agreement gave the Republic of Ireland an advisory voice in Northern Ireland through an official British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference. Hume's hard work in America helped convince both governments to make this breakthrough.
Talking with Gerry Adams
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In 1988, a Catholic priest named Father Alec Reid arranged secret talks between John Hume and Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin. Hume took a huge personal risk by holding these meetings. Many people criticised him severely in newspapers and on television, and his family received hateful messages.
During these meetings, Hume argued passionately that violence caused terrible suffering and divided neighbours even further. He insisted that true change could only come through peaceful democratic talks. His wife, Pat Hume, supported him through this stressful time.
Hume persuaded American President Bill Clinton to grant Adams a visitor visa to the United States in 1994. This move encouraged republican leaders to choose peaceful politics instead of fighting. In August 1994, a historic ceasefire was announced, opening the door for all-party peace talks.
The Good Friday Agreement
Peace talks were led by American envoy George J. Mitchell. Hume worked alongside Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and other party representatives to find terms that everyone could accept.
On 10 April 1998, the historic Good Friday Agreement was signed in Belfast. The deal created a new Northern Ireland Assembly where power was shared fairly. It also set up cross-border bodies and updated the laws of both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hume's lifelong ideas about equality, fairness, and respecting differences became the heart of the new peace.
Honours, Retirement, and Remembering His Work
Nobel Peace Prize and Other Honours
In October 1998, John Hume and David Trimble were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The committee praised Hume as the most consistent leader working for peace in Northern Ireland.
Hume became the only person to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the Martin Luther King Award (1999), and the Gandhi Peace Prize (2001). In 2010, the people of Ireland voted him "Ireland's Greatest" person in a national television poll by RTÉ. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him a knight in the Order of St. Gregory the Great.
Later Years and Passing
Hume retired from politics in 2004, and his SDLP colleague Mark Durkan took over as party leader and local member of parliament. In retirement, Hume spent time with his family and supported his favourite football team, Derry City F.C.. He was also a patron of the children's charity Plan International Ireland.
Later in life, Hume lived with Alzheimer's disease. He passed away on 3 August 2020 at the age of eighty-three in Derry. Leaders from around the world praised his bravery. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair described him as a political giant, and the Dalai Lama praised his unwavering belief in peaceful dialogue on Twitter.
After Pat Hume passed away in 2021, the John and Pat Hume Foundation was set up to teach future generations how to solve conflicts without fighting. Through his patience, courage, and kindness, John Hume showed the world that peaceful talks are always stronger than division.
Major Awards and Honours
- Hessian Peace Prize, 1995
- Honorary Doctor of Laws from Boston College (1995) and NUI Galway (1996)
- Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech, 1996
- Nobel Peace Prize (shared with David Trimble), 1998
- Officer of the Legion of Honour, France, 1999
- Martin Luther King Award, 1999
- International Gandhi Peace Prize, 2001
- Freedom of the City of Derry (2000) and Cork (2004)
- Named "Ireland's Greatest" in a public vote on RTÉ, 2010
- Knight Commander of Saint Gregory, 2012
Quotes
- "Over the years, the barriers of the past—the distrust and prejudices of the past—will be eroded, and a new society will evolve, a new Ireland based on agreement and respect for difference."
- "I thought that I had a duty to help those that weren't as lucky as me."
See also
In Spanish: John Hume para niños
- List of peace activists
