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| JOHN HUME | |
 October 16, 1998 
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The 1998 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two key figures responsible for this year's Northern Ireland peace accords -- John Hume, leader of the largest Catholic party in Northern Ireland, and David Trimble, the leader of the largest Protestant party. Mr.Hume discusses the award and the status of the peace accord with Phil Ponce.
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PHIL PONCE: Mr. Hume, welcome, and congratulations. JOHN HUME: Thank you very much. |
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Winning the award.
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PHIL PONCE: Sir, what was your reaction when you heard you won the prize?
PHIL PONCE: Mr. Hume, today your co-winner, Mr. Trimble, said that he hoped that it was not premature. Is that a concern that you have? JOHN HUME: Well, I believe we have made very considerable progress, because not only have we had two governments around the table with all the parties. They were around that table in a totally peaceful atmosphere, because we had achieved cease-fires. And then the talks process under the chairmanship of Senator George Mitchell reached an agreement that many people thought wouldn't have happened some years ago. And that agreement then, and this was very historic, was endorsed by the people of Ireland, North and South, for the first time in history, they endorsed with their votes in a referendum an agreement on how we would share this piece of earth together. And of course that is very substantial progress, and what that agreement has done is create institutions which will allow both sections of our people for the first time to work together. Our task is now to implement that agreement in all its detail and create the circumstances in which will work together, spill our sweat and not our blood, and break down the barriers of the real division among the people. And, of course, today's award strengthens that process enormously and gives great encouragement to the people. That's what I think. It's not just a personal award to myself and David. It is a strong statement of support for our peace process. |
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Will this award move the peace process forward? |
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PHIL PONCE: So you think the impact of this award will move the peace process forward then? JOHN HUME: I think it will be a very positive, because it is clear and fundamental statement of international goodwill towards the peace process in our land.
JOHN HUME: Well, in the first place, there was an overwhelming vote in the referendum. 71 percent supported and voted in favor of the agreement, and that is a clear and very substantial majority of both sections of our people. And they voted not for the past, which was shouting at one another, but for institutions, the first of which has been set up, the assembly elected by proportional representation so that all sections of our people would be represented. And that assembly now must proportionally elect an administration, which will be the government of Northern Ireland, again by proportional representation, so creating the circumstances, where the real problem will be tackled, because the real problem is not blinds on maps. It's a division in the hearts and minds of people, which goes very deep and has been there for centuries and the distrust and prejudice at the heart of that doesn't go away in a week or a fortnight. It requires a healing process. And I believe that this agreement creates the framework, the institutions whereby this healing process will take place. And as we work together, spilling our sweat and not our blood, we will break down the barriers and a new society will evolve based on agreement and respect for diversity. And central to this whole approach is that in a divided people there's no victory for either side because victories are not solutions, but what there has to be and there is, is respect for the identity of both sections of our people and creating the circumstances where that respect will be maintained as we work together. |
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The immediate objectives for the peace process.
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PHIL PONCE: Mr. Hume, what do you see as the short-term obstacles or the short-term objectives in the peace process?
PHIL PONCE: Mr. Hume, disarmament has been one of the big obstacles. How optimistic are you that that will happen soon? JOHN HUME: Well, there is a clear commitment in the agreement and all parties to the agreement are committed to doing everything in their power to achieve total disarmament and to do it in conjunction with the international commission under the chairmanship of General de Chastelain. And, of course, I think that there is also commitment in the agreement that that would happen within a fixed timeframe of two years, and I believe that that will happen if we all commit ourselves to working together to implement the agreement in all its aspects. |
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Should Gerry Adams have also been included? |
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JOHN HUME: Well, as I've said, as I've said repeatedly today, and a bit earlier this evening, I didn't see this award as personal to myself and David Trimble; I saw it as a statement of very strong support for the peace process. And in that peace process there was not only David Trimble and myself and our parties, but there was Gerry Adams and his parties and David Irvine, Gary McMichael, other parties, and I see this as a statement - this award is a statement of strong support and recognition and appreciation of the role of all those parties, and Gerry Adams, of course, played a major role in the whole peace process. His dialogue with myself was at the very beginning of the process, as we said in that dialogue, in spite of all the criticism we were getting, talking to one another, we said that the objective was a complete end to violence, followed, which we achieved, followed by all party talks, which we achieved - whose objective would be agreement among our divided people that would have to have the allegiance of both our positions, and we've achieved that too. |
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U.S. involvement. |
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PHIL PONCE: Another person whom the president specifically mentioned was Senator George Mitchell. How would you describe the role he played?
PHIL PONCE: Mr. Hume, thank you, and again, congratulations. JOHN HUME: Thank you very much. |
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JOHN
HUME: Well, obviously, I felt it was a very great honor to receive such
an award, but I saw it not as a personal award to myself and David Trimble;
I saw it as a great statement of enormous goodwill towards the peace
process in Ireland and a very strong piece of evidence of the massive
international goodwill and international support for the peace process
in Northern Ireland, and I saw it not just as an award to David and
myself, but to all of the parties involved in the peace process and
indeed to both governments, who worked very hard for us to achieve our
agreement. Of course, it was a great statement of support and encouragement
to the people of Northern Ireland who suffered so much and who are clearly
strongly supportive as they've shown in the referendum of the peace
process and the agreement. 
PHIL
PONCE: And you talked about the new institutions that have to be formed
and that are being formed. How about a change in attitude? Do you sense
a sea change in attitude in Northern Ireland that is more predisposed
to peace than it has been in the past? 
JOHN
HUME: Well, the immediate objectives are the implementation of the agreement.
We already have, as I've already said, the assembly in being. The next
stage is to put into existence the administration and parallel to that
when the administration is working, naturally, we will then -- we will
want to harness the massive international goodwill, particularly in
the United States, and attract the inward investment to give hope to
our young people and parallel to that of course work to achieve the
total disarmament and remove the gun forever from our island, so that
as we move into the next century, it will not only be a new century,
it will be a century in which we build a new Ireland in which there
will no longer be any killings in our streets, and no emigration of
our young people to other lands to earn a living, and in which it will
be based, as I keep repeating, on agreement and respect for difference,
because this agreement shouldn't threaten and doesn't threaten any section
of our people. It accommodates both sections. 
PHIL
PONCE: Mr. Hume, today President Clinton said that one of the people
who deserves equal credit for this peace process is Gerry Adams, the
head of Sinn Fein. Are you disappointed that he didn't receive the award,
along with you and Mr. Trimble? 
JOHN
HUME: George Mitchell played an outstanding role. He chaired the talks
over a two-year period when - and for the longest part of that two-year
period from the very beginning, we were listening to all the old language
of the past. He showed enormous patience and of course enormous commitment
to doing everything in his power to seek out the areas of common ground
and the areas of agreement. And we owe a great deal to George Mitchell,
and his committee, who chaired that talks process and brought agreement
in the end. And I would like to express my deep appreciation to the
American people for sending us Senator George Mitchell. And, of course,
I would also like to express my deep appreciation for your president
who played on an outstanding role in putting peace in Ireland right
at the top of his agenda and using all his influences to support and
develop the peace process in Ireland. We owe him a great debt, and I
would like to thank him for it.