Hume, a founding member of the Derry Credit Union, became the youngest president of the Irish League of Credit Unions at the age of 27. He held this position from 1964 to 1968. He once said: “All I have done is what I am most proud of, because no movement has done more good for the people of Ireland, the North and the South than the credit union movement.” [13] At Easter 1998, Northern Ireland`s main political parties signed a peace agreement known as the Good Friday Agreement. In the fall of 1998, the Nobel Committee decided to award the peace prize to two people at the heart of the peace process in the war-torn province. For most Irish people, John Hume was the leader during the Northern Conflict, which advocated the need for a peaceful political solution. It is one that has called for a fundamental reorientation of institutions to reflect the fact of a divided society and to promote the agreement and sharing that are necessary to keep them united. From 1969 to 1998, he was a constant influence on all Irish governments, but he was also the main voice that was heard in Brussels and Strasbourg, as well as in Washington and New York. Even in neighbourhoods that did not like or often disliked the message it did not repeat, most ended up accepting the Hume strategy, the British government, the Ulster Unionists and the republican movement. “This agreement is still in force and is the foundation of the political processes we are looking at today.
He appeared on stage with david Trimble, head of uUP, and U2`s Bono to push people to vote for the deal. “But we said, “No, we`re going to relax together” – and I thought that would be a very clear indication of how we were going to implement the agreement.” Unfortunately, the 1973-4 Sunningdale Agreement, with the central elements of power-sharing and an Irish dimension, was 25 years ahead of its time; Hence Seamus Mallon`s quiz that the Good Friday Agreement is Sunningdale for slow learners. It was overthrown not only by loyalists, but also by republican fundamentalists. Over the next 20 years, trade unionists tried to evade decentralization if it was not the majority power that left the SDLP without a forum.
