FILE - Former Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume sits with a drink after announcing at a news conference in Belfast, that he will not be standing again for the European Parliament, Feb. 4, 2004.
Irish politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume has died. He was 83.
Hume, a Catholic leader of the moderate Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) of Northern Ireland shared the 1998 Nobel with David Trimble, the First Minister of Northern Ireland at the time, for their roles in securing the historic 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
Hume saw the decline of the nationalist movement in Northern Ireland and pushed for self-government for the British-ruled province, with input from all parties. He had hoped eventually to achieve a union with the Irish Republic.
Hume said “Ireland is not a romantic dream; it is not a flag; it is 4.5 million people divided into two powerful traditions. The solution will be found not on the basis of victory for either, but on the basis of agreement and a partnership between both. The real division of Ireland is not a line drawn on the map, but in the minds and hearts of its people.”
Hume announced his complete retirement from politics on Feb. 4, 2004.