Derry City pay tribute to club president and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume

Derry City club president and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume has passed away peacefully at the age of 83.

The former SDLP leader died at the Mor nursing home in Derry, where he had resided for several years following a diagnosis of dementia.

A key architect of the peace process that brought an end to the Troubles in the six counties of Ireland, Hume was honoured with the Nobel Prize alongside David Trimble in 1998.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that John passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning after a short illness,” the SDLP announced in a statement on Monday morning.

"We would like to extend our deepest and heartfelt thanks to the care and nursing staff of Owen Mor nursing home in Derry. The care they have shown John in the last months of his life has been exceptional.

"As a family, we are unfailingly inspired by the professionalism, compassion, and love they have shown to John and all those under their care.

“We can never adequately show them our thanks for looking after John at a time when we could not. The family drew great comfort in being with John again in the last days of his life."

Hume was a teacher by trade but gained prominence as a community organiser in Derry city amid the civil rights struggle in the late 1960s.

He was a founding member of the Social Democratic & Labour Party and was elected its leader in 1979.

The Derryman was a key figure in bringing Sinn Féin and the UK government to the table and helped broker the 1994 IRA ceasefire, which would eventually lead to the Good Friday Agreement.

Hume, who has held the position of club president at Derry City since the 1990s, is survived by his wife Pat and their five children.

“As well as being an iconic figure on the political stage, John was a wonderful ambassador for the city and the club,” read a statement released by Derry City.

“He has been President for the past 21 years and testimony to his global popularity was instrumental in bringing a star-studded Barcelona side to Derry in 2003.

“He was a genuine supporter too and attended as many games as he could. John travelled to all the club’s cup finals during his tenure and as a club and a city, we were lucky to have him.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to John’s wife, Pat, and the entire family circle at this very difficult time.

“May his gentle soul Rest In Peace.”