Sir, – This year we lost two titans of peaceful change, John Hume, Nobel Peace laureate, and Seamus Mallon, former Deputy First Minister.
They were an incredible team – John the courageous and visionary peacemaker, and Seamus the straight-talking nationalist who turned trust builder.
As Drapier wrote in The Irish Times on November 20th, 1999: “Without John Hume, the vision of a pluralist Northern Ireland would not have been articulated and taken root; without Seamus Mallon, the spirit of decency and democracy might have been quenched.”
The newly established John and Pat Hume Foundation will continue to advance their deep commitment to non-violent peaceful change-making.
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The pandemic also gives us an opportunity to build more inclusive and resilient communities.
At our recent discussion on Shared Home Place in Derry, Maureen Hetherington spoke passionately of “a global system that is ethical, and compassionate, that following the Africa concept of ‘ubuntu’, locates individual identity in the context of belonging to each other”.
The challenge to us all today is whether together we can build a society based on neighbourliness and tenacious solidarity. – Yours, etc,
TIM ATTWOOD,
Foundation
Secretary,
Hume Foundation, Belfast.