John Hume on “European Union as an Example for Conflict Resolution”

One of the advantages of being married to a peace researcher is that you get to go to very interesting events. After accompanying her to the World Water Week in Stockholm last August, I got to go to a lecture tonight by Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King Prize and Mahathma Ghandi Prize Winner, Prof. Dr. John Hume,

"regarded as one of the most important figures in the modern political history of Northern Ireland and one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process there." (Wikipedia)

The mayor of Heidelberg, Beate Weber hostet the event, and with permission I recorded all but the first three minutes of the night with my iPod. The quality isn’t bad, though the volume is very low. Hume’s voice is especially low, but it was the same in the room, he was very hard to understand, speaking with a very low voice.

Download John Hume’s lecture 40MB

Notes:

00:00 Introduction by Heidelberg’s mayor Beate Weber

10:00 Lecture by John Hume

His main point was that the peace process in Northern Ireland was built upon the same three principles underlying the conflict resolution in the European Union.

1. Respect for differences

2. Establishing institutions that respect those differences

3. The Healing Process: Reprasentatives of different countries working together in their common interest

30:00 Beginning of discussion

If you have the time, give it a spin.