Rename EU building after giant and icon John Hume, says Billy Kelleher

Mr Kelleher wrote to David Sassoli, the President of the European Parliament on August 3, the day Mr Hume died.

In a private letter seen by the Irish Examiner, Mr Kelleher recommended that a building in Brussels or Strasbourg be named after the late SDLP leader and former MEP.

Mr Hume served as MEP for Northern Ireland from 1979 to 2004 and had been passionate about his dedication to the European Union.

A leader of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 and is credited as the father of the Northern Irish peace process.

John Hume saw that lasting peace could only be built through empathy, tolerance, and democracy. He was a member of our Parliament for 25 years and his contribution to Europe will never be forgotten. The thoughts of the whole @Europarl_EN are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/3BidqBfeAU

— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) August 3, 2020

Mr Kelleher said in the letter to Mr Sassoli, "A committed European, a passionate believer in democracy and human rights and a modern-day peacemaker, John exemplifies the values on which the European Union was founded upon.

"As leader of the SDLP, and constitutional republicanism in Northern Ireland, John stood head and shoulders above his peers, and to my mind is one of the greatest modern Irishmen.

"I believe that a fitting tribute to John's legacy would be the naming of a significant building in Brussels or Strasburg in his honour.

"Perhaps Mr President, in conjunction with your colleagues Presidents Michel and Von Der Lyen you could look into this matter and ensure what John stood for is remembered proudly in our European institutions."

Mr Kelleher told the Irish Examiner he had mulled the idea of an EU building being named after an Irish person in the wake of Brexit and had already considered John Hume.

"We were passing and saw a room named after a British MEP, and we thought that maybe they'd be renaming these buildings now after Brexit, and it got us thinking," Mr Kelleher said.

"John Hume, being what he was, a committed European, the only MEP to ever receive a Nobel Peace Prize, and for all these obvious reasons, I thought of him.

In my political lifetime, he was part of my introduction to constitutional politics on issues around Northern Ireland and was instrumental in the Good Friday Agreement.

"I felt that maybe with Britain leaving, there are rooms and buildings named after British people, that are being reconstituted or revamped, and it would be a fitting tribute for all he had done and achieved in Ireland."

Mr Kelleher has not yet had a reply, but plans to raise the issue again when he returns to Brussels in two weeks' time.

"When he passed, we felt it would be fitting for this political giant and icon," Mr Kelleher said.

"He was a constitutional pacifist, an ardent human rights campaign and his overarching principle was human dignity, he should be seen as a guiding light.

"John felt that was what the Europe Union was; a peace process."