Pat Hume: Tributes paid to 'extraordinarily strong' widow of John Hume

Pat Hume, pictured here with her husband in 2010, was the "perfect partner" for John

Pat Hume has been described as the most "extraordinarily strong woman, with the softest, most gentle manner".

The widow of the late SDLP leader and Nobel prize winner John Hume died on Thursday after a short illness, aged 83.

Former Irish President Mary McAleese paid tribute to Mrs Hume saying she was "the perfect partner" to John Hume.

Mrs Hume worked alongside her husband from the beginning of the civil rights movement in Londonderry in the 1960s.

Her death comes just over a year after the death of her husband.

"She was a nurturer, she was a coper," said Dr McAleese, who recently spent a day with Mrs Hume.

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In a statement on Thursday, the Hume family said they were "heartbroken", adding that she "died as she lived - surrounded by family, peacefully and generous to the end".

The family paid tribute to the medical staff who cared for their mother in her final days.

Speaking to Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster, Dr McAleese said John relied on Pat for her "wisdom and advice".

"Pat was an extravagantly wise woman, she had a huge wisdom," she added.

"I don't know anybody who I have met in my life who was more rounded and more grounded than Pat.

"She was able to synthesise common sense, compassion, political nous in a way that was really, really special and absolutely essential to John."

Dr McAleese said Mrs Hume "never looked for the limelight... but boy is she deserving of a mountain of praise."

'A tremendous legacy'

Foyle MP and current SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Mrs Hume has left "a tremendous legacy for everyone in Derry and across Ireland".

"John always said: 'I'm the parcel and Pat delivers me.'

"That was true," he added.

"I genuinely don't believe any of the of the things John achieved would have been possible without Pat.

"She just had such strength and also belief in what they were doing, she was as driven to bring about a peaceful, and just Ireland as he was."

"The people of Derry and the people of Ireland owe them both a great debt."

Pat Hume was, according to her husband John, his rock and key adviser throughout his long political career.

As a journalist in the north west, you were always very keen to get Pat Hume's insight into current political developments.

Her brain was so sharp and she was able to cut through a lot of the spin and nonsense - delivering lines you wouldn't hear from politicians.

I always found her very frustrating, but very frustrating in a nice way.

The more I tried to question her, and get advice and a steer from her, the more she would ask me about my family, my career and how things were going for me.

You always came away from meeting her having unburdened yourself, without having gleaned the information you were hoping to get.

Like her husband John, she was always interested in people and that cut to the core of what they were about as a couple.

They were very much rooted in the Derry community and were more interested in the people around them, than mixing with the great and the good.

Pat Hume's name never appeared on an election ballot paper, but her influence on the political path in Northern Ireland stretched far beyond many politicians.

John and Pat Hume with David Trimble and Hillary Clinton in Belfast in 2012

Paying tribute to Mrs Hume on Friday, former US President Bill Clinton said that she "played an enormous role" in helping to achieve peace in Northern Ireland.

"All of us who were blessed by the way she lived her life and advanced her cause with such grace and good humour will be forever grateful," he said.

Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state and presidential candidate, described her as "a gracious, determined force behind the achievement of peace in Ireland".

Mrs Clinton added that the Humes "made the world a better place and set an example for us all".

Former Northern Ireland Assembly Speaker Mitchel McLaughlin said Pat Hume was "one of the bedrocks of the peace process who kept her nerve at the worst of times".

"She didn't flinch, John Hume didn't flinch and they prevailed in the end," the former Sinn Féin Foyle MLA said.

When talks with the Sinn Féin leadership were held at the Humes' home in Derry, Pat "set the atmosphere for constructive and calm conversation".

He added: "Unfailingly, no matter the circumstances, Pat Hume was always steady, steadfast, she clearly was across all the discussions.

"She was always focused on finding ways through the disagreements and I think John Hume was benefitting from her advice on an ongoing basis. I think republicans benefitted as well, I know I certainly did."

John and Pat Hume pictured beside one of Mr Hume's election poster in 1999

Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt, a trustee of the John and Pat Hume Foundation, said the Hume's shared a view of Northern Ireland politics that was ahead of its time.

"Everybody else was talking about a divided society and the negativity of that, John and Pat were talking in a very positive way about the benefits of the fact we have a very diverse society," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

He said she was "more than just John's rock" and along with Daphne Trimble, wife of former Ulster Unionist party leader Lord Trimble, had played a key role in supporting victims and survivors of the Troubles.

Lady Trimble said she shared a "warm friendship" with Mrs Hume.

"She was one of the best, simply one of the best people I have ever met," she said.

Her friend will be sorely missed, she added.

Book of condolence

Mrs Hume's work continued during the Troubles, through to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

She ran her husband's Foyle constituency office dealing with community issues, housing and poverty in Derry.

Mrs Hume, a former teacher, was awarded the Irish Red Cross Lifetime Achievement award in 2018.

A foundation honouring John and Pat Hume's peace and reconciliation work was launched in November last year.

A book of condolence has opened in the main hall of Derry's Guildhall.

The city's Mayor Graham Warke said it would allow people to "offer the people the chance to pay their respects and say thank you to a remarkable and courageous woman".

Mrs Hume's funeral Mass will be held at St Eugene's Cathedral in Derry at 11:00 BST on Monday.

Members of the public are invited to watch the service live via webcam.