Seán Farren: on the legacy of peacemaker John Hume & Irish peace today

Seán Farren has been a local politician in Northern Ireland for over 40 years representing the SDLP. He has much to say about Brexit and the prospects of a lasting peace in Ireland. He is also the chairman of the new foundation that is honouring and building on the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume, the John and Pat Hume Foundation. One of the books Seán has written was “John Hume: Irish Peacemaker” (2015) and indeed Seán was in the room in Clonard Monastery when secret talks were begun with John Hume and Gerry Adams in 1988. Ten years later in 1998 these talks undoubtedly can be seen to have paved the way for the end of thirty years of civil conflict and the robust peace we have lived with in Northern Ireland since 1998’s Good Friday agreement.

In this interview we focus a lot on John Hume who passed away in the summer of 2020 and hear Seán’s reflections on this man who became a giant of peace in this land. John Hume said “Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.”

This is an interview with a man who has lived through our conflict in the north of Ireland and someone who has played his part in bringing peace here too.