Sir, – I endorse all the praise for the late great John Hume. I also laud his wonderful wife Pat who backed him all the way and always kept smiling. – Yours, etc,
EILEEN BARRINGTON,
Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Not the least of John Hume’s legacies is that we should no longer regard the word “stubborn” with only negative connotations. Thanks to Mr Hume’s stubbornness and bravery we all live in a better place. – Yours, etc,
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KEVIN O’SULLIVAN,
Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Sir, – John Hume brought peace to the North, yet his demand for a full-sized, self-governing university for Derry has still not been achieved — more than half a century after his initial campaign. It was an objective he remained committed to throughout his life.
John Hume led that original University for Derry lobby in the 1960s. I was the co-ordinator of a new University for Derry campaign many decades later. It remains an unfulfilled ambition. There is unanimity across Derry – including among those who call it Londonderry – that a university campus of 10,000 or more students is the only way to achieve the lasting social and economic progress for the city championed by John Hume. The political system of Northern Ireland remains a difficult one through which to navigate change, even when it is obviously needed. Progress on this, and much else, can only be made with the help of friends elsewhere, in particular in Dublin and the US.
Derry still needs external support to achieve economic transformation and Mr Hume deserves many lasting tributes. There could be no greater one than the establishment of a full-sized university in Derry. Those in government in Dublin and with money in the US might consider this in the coming months. – Yours, etc,
PAUL GOSLING,
Derry.
Sir, – Just as his namesake the Scottish philosopher David Hume set out, in the 18th century, to “discover the proper province of human reason”, John Hume, in the 20th century, never gave up on it. – Yours, etc,
FERGUS MCGRATH,
Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Sir, – The John Hume Children’s Hospital? – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY
Co Dhun na nGall.