John Hume’s retirement from public life is the final proof, if any were needed, that Northern politics has reached the end of an era. His peace mantra is now known across the world. He has built an unrivalled reputation in Brussels, Washington, London and Dublin.

However, it is probably the now flourishing streets of Derry of which he is most proud. The man who once led civil rights marches to the tune of ‘we shall overcome’ on the streets of Derry has come a very long way indeed.

The American Ireland Fund held a reception in Washington last March to honor a lifetime dedicated to peace and reconciliation. His wife, Pat Hume of the Northern Ireland Memorial Fund and Senator Maurice Hayes, Chairman of the Advisory Committee share some of their thoughts.

Pat Hume

Over the past forty years we have gone through a period of intense upheaval and change. As a society in Northern Ireland, we have struggled to develop ways of becoming more open and more accepting of diversity. We continue to struggle with this today.

When I first met John, we were both living in a society where difference had become institutionalized and where large sections of the population felt disenfranchised and excluded. At the same time, within communities, there was a strong tradition of close-knit support. John had completed a degree in History and French, was working as a teacher and was involved in a number of community initiatives. His political vision at that time was very strong, and indeed it remains largely unchanged today. At its core, his political work and that of many valued colleagues has been about finding ways of overcoming a sense of difference which is based on fear, and replacing this with a respect for diversity which is based on trust. The road between then and now has taken us to many extreme places. We have seen much violence and much pain. We know that violence cannot provide a way out of the agonies of dividedness. It deepens divisions and has made the task of building an open society in Northern Ireland all the more difficult. Violence continues to have the same effect throughout the world.

John’s approach has always been to look beyond dividedness—to the fears and insecurities that lie behind it. Fear becomes more powerful in narrow spaces and he and his colleagues sought to create a broader stage, on which to begin the slow and painful process of building trust. To this end we remain grateful for the time, interest and effort put in by people in the U.S. and elsewhere. John’s focus has persistently been on human relationships rather than on land or on borders. The work has been slow and at times almost unbearably difficult. It has been my privilege to work alongside him, and to witness how patient and often painful dedication can bear fruit. We have a long way to go in Northern Ireland, but we’ve come a long way also.

John has decided not to stand for political office after this term, although I seriously doubt that he will retire from politics! I hope his work will continue in encouraging others to be challenged and stretched out of a sense of identity which is based on fear and exclusiveness. Difference needs to be faced. The challenge is to find ways to respect and accommodate difference, and it’s what we have to do on this journey to a New Ireland to which we can all give our loyalty and allegiance.

My since thanks again to Loretta, Kingsley, Kieran and all involved with The Ireland Funds for the outstanding work which you have done over the years to promote reconciliation and community projects which have been invaluable to our peace process.

Senator Maurice Hayes

The announcement that John Hume will not run for Europe and his effective retirement from active politics marks not only the end of an era in Irish politics but the conclusion of a career which was as expansive and courageous as it was long. Few will forget the fresh faced young man who led the Civil Rights movement with such passion and force, who yet had the clarity of mind and the strategic vision to realize that the way of politics was the only sure way of resolving conflict, of removing inequalities and of alleviating disadvantage. He saw the Civil Rights movement rise and fall, overtaken by violence and inter-communal conflict, but having created a constituency for change, and developed the consciousness and the language of human rights and the need to make common cause across sectarian and communal barriers his influence endured.

He was also a widely respected figure on the European stage. John Hume was the quintessential European: fluent in French and at home in Europe; Strasbourg was his favorite political venue. His network of contacts among European politicians and his knowledge of the anatomy and the pathology of the European bureaucracy made him an outstanding representative there. John Hume absorbed the European ideal early. He was a European before almost anything else, seeing the opportunity through membership of the EEC (as it then was) not only to promote economic and social development in Ireland, North and South, but the possibility of solving within interlocking European relationships, the centuries old conflict in Northern Ireland.

Hume broke the mould of Northern politics and cast unity in a new light. He put people first before ideology, before territory. The border he wanted to remove was not primarily a line on a map but in the minds of men and women.

He secured many advantages for Northern Ireland, not least when he was working successfully in harness with his fellow MEPs, Ian Paisley and James Nicholson. Together they achieved much. Working together they were a potent image of what could be achieved in Northern Ireland if the parties worked together.

So many of the seminal phrases and concepts of the past 30 years come from him and his role is often unremembered and undervalued—the three dimensional model, the totality of relationships, the principle of consent, the salience of politics and above all his passion for peace, for non-violence, for simple humanity.

What we need to remember is that John Hume was a teacher and that what was described as the single transferable speech was the powerful tool of the teacher: exposition, explanation and reiteration. John Hume whose passion for politics, whose care for his country with his commitment to the course of reconciliation he set out on all those years ago, cannot have taken this decision likely.

This article also appeared in Connect Summer 2004 issue