Presidency was John Hume’s ‘for the taking’, says Mary McAleese

The presidency was John Hume’s “for the taking” in 1997, former president Mary McAleese has said.

In a new biography of Mr Hume, Ms McAleese – who went on to become president that year – said that “without a shadow of a doubt” the SDLP leader would have had the job had he wanted it.

“All he had to do was say he was interested, and John Hume would have been president,” she said. “A number of people including [Redemptorist priest and peacebroker] Alec [Reid] asked me to consider it… and my reaction was, this is John Hume’s. This is John Hume’s moment and I thought he would have made a great president.”

It is one of a number of observations contained in John Hume: The Persuader, by former BBC Northern Ireland political correspondent Stephen Walker, which is published next week. The book sheds new light on the discussions which went on behind the scenes after Mr Hume’s name was mooted as a potential presidential candidate.

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At the time the Hume family was holidaying in France, and his son John jnr recalled “there were various sorts of emissaries, sorts of phone calls. I think he was very flattered to be asked, extremely flattered, to be honest.”

Mr Hume subsequently released a statement ruling himself out, saying it would have been an honour and it had been a “very difficult decision” but the Northern peace process was “at a very crucial stage” and he wanted to stay on with his colleagues in the SDLP and work towards achieving “a new and agreed Ireland based on a lasting settlement and a lasting peace”.

In April 1998 the Belfast Agreement was signed, which largely ended the North’s Troubles. Later that year Mr Hume was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize along with the Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble for their role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.

Conall McDevitt, then the SDLP’s head of press, said he felt the timing had been wrong and “had the presidential election come around in the summer of 1998 my personal hunch is that John would have accepted the nomination and become president of Ireland”. The SDLP leader, he said, “was not leaving Northern Ireland until the job was done.”

However, his son felt the prospect of the presidency was “never under serious consideration”.

“I don’t think he would have been a very good president,” he said, adding jokingly “could you see him sitting through rugby matches?” He believed he would have found the role constraining. “Dad would just go wandering. I mean they would not have been able to keep an eye on him.”

His other son, Aidan, agreed and felt his father would have found the role difficult. “I don’t think being president was something that would really have appealed to him. I think he would have been a prisoner to Phoenix Park in many ways.”

John Hume: The Persuader by Stephen Walker is published on October 12th by Gill Books. An exclusive extract is in today’s Weekend Review section.