Written by Colin Archer, former IPB Secretary-General
A great loss of a great man: IPB echoes the many tributes flowing in from around the world, and from within his own city of Belfast, following the death on Aug. 3 of John Hume, the co-founder and leader of the Social Democratic and Labour party (SDLP) of Northern Ireland. See Guardian obituary and comments from his biographer.
IPB awarded John the Sean MacBride Peace Award, shortly before the announcement of his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. In his MacBride acceptance speech, held in Brussels in October 1998, he lavished praise on the European Union as a great peace-making institution. Indeed, as a Member of the European Parliament he had been able to harness its influence and prestige in support of the Irish peace process. Just four years earlier, in Sept. 1994, IPB’s Cora Weiss had organised an Irish Peace Process Tour to encourage all the parties to take advantage of the IRA Ceasefire and move more swiftly to an inclusive peace agreement.
Many more links about John Hume’s work are available at: https://www.betterworld.info/peace/peace-prizes/sean-macbride-peace-prize/1998-john-hume-northern-ireland