NORWAY: RIVAL NORTHERN IRELAND POLITICIANS JOHN HUME AND DAVID TRIMBLE WIN THE 1998 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Record ID: 190142

  • Title: NORWAY: RIVAL NORTHERN IRELAND POLITICIANS JOHN HUME AND DAVID TRIMBLE WIN THE 1998 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
  • Date: 16th October 1998
  • Summary: OSLO, NORWAY (OCTOBER 16, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV/CU EXTERIOR OF NOBLE PRIZE INSTITUTE (2 SHOTS) 0.09 2. SV INTERIOR OF INSTITUTE, JOURNALISTS WAITING 0.14 3. MCU OF FRANCIS SEJERSTED SAYING: "THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE HAS DECIDED TO AWARD THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FOR 1998 TO JOHN HUME AND DAVID TRIMBLE FOR THEIR EFFORTS TO FIND A PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO THE CONFLICT IN NORTHERN IRELAND. OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS THE NATIONAL, RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL CONFLICT IN NORTHERN IRELAND HAS COST OVER 3,500 PEOPLE THEIR LIVES. JOHN HUME HAS THROUGHOUT BEEN THE CLEAREST AND MOST CONSISTENT OF NORTERN IRELAND'S POLITICAL LEADERS IN HIS WORK FOR A PEACEFUL SOLUTION. THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE PEACE AGRRMENT SIGNED ON GOOD FRIDAY 1998 REFLECT PRINCIPLES WHICH HE HAS STOOD FOR. AS THE LEADER OF THE TRADITIONALLY PREDOMINANAT PARTY IN NORTHERN IRELAND, DAVID TRIMBLE SHOWED GREAT POLITICAL COURAGE WHEN, AT THE CRITICAL STAGE OF THE PROCESS, HE ADVOCATED SOLUTIONS WHICH LED TO THE PEACE AGREEMENT. AS THE HEAD OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND GOVERNMENT HE HAS TAKEN THE FIRST STEPS TOWARDS BUILDING UP THE MUTUAL CONFIDENCE ON WHICH A LASTING PEACE MUST BE BASED. THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE ALSO WISHES TO EMPHASISE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE POSITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PEACE PROCESS MADE BY OTEHR NORTHERN IRISH LEADERS AND BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF GREAT BRITAIN, IRELAND AND THE UNITED STATES. THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE EXPRESSES THE HOPE THAT THE FOUNDATIONS WHICH HAVE NOW BEEN LAID WILL NOT ONLY LEAD TO LASTING PEACE IN NORTHERN IRELAND BUT ALSO SERVE TO INSPIRE PEACEFUL SOLUTIONS TO OTHER RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC AND NATIONAL CONFLICTS AROUND THE WORLD." (ENGLISH) 1.58 4. PAN JOURNALISTS 2.13 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 31st October 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: OSLO, NORWAY
  • Country: Norway
  • Reuters ID: LVADZU8Q63ZWOI763KWTUFTV3J0L
  • Story Text: Rival Northern Ireland politicians John Hume and David
    Trimble have won the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for their work to
    end 30 years of sectarian violence.

    Francis Sejersted, head of the secretive five-member
    committee, said the two were being honoured for their efforts
    to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern
    Ireland, in which 3,600 people have died.

    Hume, one of the main architects of the Good Friday peace
    deal, heads the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), the
    chief Catholic nationalist party.Aged 61, he is a former
    teacher whose father told him never to go into politics.

    David Trimble leads the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the
    main Protestant party, which wants to retain the province's
    links with London.

    The award, worth 7.6 million Swedish crowns (960,000 U.S.

    dollars) excludes Gerry Adams, the head of Sinn Fein, the
    political wing of the Irish Republican Army guerrillas.


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