'Midwife of the Belfast Peace Agreement' Nobel Peace Prize Laureate John Hume Passes Away

John Hume, former leader of SDLP and architect of the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement [EPA=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] John Hume, former leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in Northern Ireland, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a midwife in the 1998 Belfast Peace Agreement, passed away on the 3rd (local time) at the age of 83, BBC reported.

Former leader Hume had been suffering from dementia for several years and passed away that morning at a nursing home in his hometown of Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Hume's family stated, "John was a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and brother," adding, "He was deeply loved, and the family will feel his absence profoundly."

Hume is credited with designing the Belfast Peace Agreement. The Belfast Peace Agreement was a peace accord signed on April 10, 1998, between the Protestant and Catholic factions in Northern Ireland, mediated by then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

This agreement ended the violent conflict that had continued since 1969 between the Catholic community advocating for unification with Ireland and the Protestant community insisting on remaining part of the United Kingdom. Hume led the founding of the moderate Catholic party SDLP in 1970 and served as its leader from 1979 to 2001.

Since being elected SDLP leader, Hume consistently advocated for "grand compromise through dialogue." He persistently persuaded Northern Ireland's Catholic community that peace could only be achieved by abandoning bombs and guns.

Following the news of Hume's passing, political leaders from the UK and Ireland expressed their condolences. Colum Eastwood, SDLP leader, lamented, "The death of John Hume means the loss of one of the greatest political figures in 20th-century Ireland."

Irish Taoiseach Miche?l Martin described him as "a great hero and a true mediator," and Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and head of the Northern Ireland Executive, also expressed condolences, calling him "a giant of Irish nationalism."

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said, "John Hume was a political giant and a prophet who rejected the belief that the future would be the same as the past," adding, "His contribution to peace in Northern Ireland will be remembered as a tremendous achievement."