Illness has forced Derry's Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume to miss a major event organised in his honour.
Tributes were paid to the former SDLP leader for ‘inspirational’ peace work at the launch of a new initiative in his honour.
The Ulster University has created the John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace at its Magee campus in Derry.
The aim of the chair is use the lessons learned in Northern Ireland’s peace process in recent decades to support other peace efforts in conflict-affected areas of the world.
The initiative has been named in honour of Mr Hume and his friend, the late American politician Thomas P. O’Neill, better known as ‘Tipp’.
Mr O’Neill, who died in 1994, was an influential member of the US House of Representatives, serving for 34 years representing Boston, Massachusetts.
He served as Speaker of the House from 1977 until his retirement in 1987.
Mr O’Neill is credited as being one of the biggest supporters of the Northern Ireland peace process in the US political administration and he and Mr Hume formed a close bond during their work together.
Members of Mr O’Neill’s family travelled from the US for the launch of the new chari..
Mr Hume’s wife, Pat, told those present at Thursday's event her husband was unable to attend because of illness.
In November last year, she revealed he had been battling dementia.
Speaking at the event, Mrs Hume praised the peace work of her husband and Mr O’Neill and said her family were honoured that the new peace chair had been established in their honour.
Among the others who spoke at Thursday’s launch was Derry-born actress Roma Downey who addressed the audience via a video link to the US.
Ms Downey said Mr Hume had been a friend of her family’s and that she had been inspired by his efforts to build peace and bring an end to the ‘Troubles’.
She said she had also admired the commitment to the Irish peace process from Mr O’Neill, adding that she had been delighted when asked to support the new John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace.
The guest speaker. Dr Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas K ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi, the spiritual leader who led the non-violent campaign for Indian independence from Britain.
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