В Дерри посадили дуб в память о миротворце Пэт Хьюм по случаю пятой годовщины её смерти

Peace-builder Pat Hume has been remembered in a “quiet and significant way” on the fifth anniversary of her death in her home city of Derry. An oak tree in her honour was planted last week at a site within the grounds of St Eugene’s Cathedral, not far from a similar tree commemorating her late husband, John Hume. The planting ceremony was attended by the couple’s family, members of the John & Pat Hume Foundation as well as Bishop Donal McKeown and Fr Paul Farren. Speaking to The Irish News, former SDLP leader and John & Pat Hume Foundation board member Mark Durkan said that the foundation felt it was “appropriate” to mark Pat’s fifth anniversary this way. “A number of years ago, a tree was planted here, an oak tree, on the anniversary of John’s death,” he said. “Pat’s family and the Hume Foundation felt it was appropriate also to quietly mark Pat’s fifth anniversary with planting a tree in her memory as well. “And very thankfully, Fr Farren, who officiated at both John’s funeral and Pat’s funeral as administrator here in the cathedral, willingly agreed and provided the green space for that. “I think it’s important in a gentle way to remember them and commemorate them here. They both came to the cathedral quite a lot, and they lived quite near the cathedral as well. It’s appropriate in a quiet and significant way.” Mr Durkan added that the oak tree, which is the symbol of the couple’s beloved Derry, also represents “strength and endurance” which were attributes that both possessed. “Pat was someone who didn’t just support John Hume in a very solid, wifely way; Pat was someone who had political acumen and who had real empathy for people,” he said. “She showed that in the outreach work that she would do in the constituency office, where she was a listening ear for everyone, but she was also a very important ear for John. “When people think about all of John Hume’s time spent away from Derry, whether it was in Europe, in America or in Westminster, when serious things were happening at home and in the days before 24-hour news cycles and mobile phones, it was Pat Hume who was telling John Hume what was happening about some terrible events.” Mr Durkan added that Pat had a “endless energy” and that she was “an alchemist of optimism”. “No matter how challenging or difficult a situation was, she always found a role and a way of offering a tender hope,” he said. The work of both John and Pat carries on in their foundation. “Pat Hume was the one who always talked about the importance of the quiet peace-builders,” Mr Durkan said. “People who were working in the community, working sometimes in the arts and cultural sector, people working in the churches, and people working to improve economic investment, whether it be in the social economy or in the private sector. “She saw all those as quiet peace-builders.”