John Hume has recently been voted the “Greatest Irishman Ever” in an RTE Television poll. He has come from a situation of poverty in Derry to become an MP, an MEP and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
He was born in 1937 and sat the 11 plus examination the first year that it was introduced. This enabled him to attend St. Columbs College in Derry and he also got a University scholarship. He studied for the priesthood at Maynooth for a time but gave it up and returned to Derry. At the time Catholics found it very hard to get housing in Derry and the City Council and the Planning Office were controlled by a Unionist majority so it looked like the situation was never going to change.
He was initially reluctant to enter politics but when he saw the Civil Rights Movement going on simultaneously in the United States he grew to admire Martin Luther King. Hume realised that the best way forward was through consensus, by engaging both sides, Nationalists and Unionists to create a better solution. His home was attacked and he was not always popular because people did not want to see him engage with the system to try and improve the lives of people around him.
At the heart of John Hume’s philosophy was the belief that the Northern problem was an economic one and after receiving a telegram from Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy he managed to make contact with a number of high profile Irish Americans such as Tip O Neill (the Speaker of the House) and Bruce Morrisson. When Margaret Thatcher signed the Anglo Irish Agreement it was clear that she did not want to but she allegedly said “the Americans made me do it”. Once that Agreement was signed in 1985 it meant that Ireland (North and South) was viewed more favourably by Europe and America. This led to the creation of the International Fund for Ireland which created massive opportunities for the Irish economy and provided thousands of jobs.
John Hume also believed that “the answer to difference is to respect it”. He got involved in peaceful protest and started secret talks with Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, even though public opinion was very much against this. When word of the talks leaked out there were 2 major atrocities within 7 days, Frizells Fish Shop on the Shankhill Road, Belfast and the Greysteel killings. This marked a low point in the Troubles and 6 weeks later Albert Reynolds and John Major signed the Downing Street Declaration.
John Hume believed in a consensus approach and he had a vision that the final solution would comprise a three party relationship 1) between Unionists & Nationalists 2) between Britain and Ireland 3) between North and South. All of that had to be worked out and it took in excess of 30 years. John Hume gave his life to the cause of working for peace in Northern Ireland.
حساب مقطع الكابل الكهربائي المناسب
bedewy by askBEDEWY VISIT GAHZLY
يسعدنا زيارتكم صفحاتنا على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي حيث نقوم بنشر عروض حصرية على موقعنا الالكتروني.
صفحتنا علي الفيسبوك هنا.
حسابنا على تويتر هنا.
