George Mitchell describes John Hume as keystone of GFA and praises ‘tremendous’ contribution of eight parties
Senator George Mitchell has described John Hume and the SDLP delegation at the peace talks in the later 1990s as among the key foundations of the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr. Mitchell, the US Democratic politician and diplomat who co-chaired the all-party peace talks over two decades ago, has also praised the seven other parties who signed the peace accord in April 1998.
He made the remarks during a recent briefing of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
“The SDLP delegation was one of the foundations of the agreement in the negotiations led by John Hume and Seamus Mallon. The Ulster Unionist Party was the other, of course, led by David Trimble, Reg Empey and others.
"They carried a heavy load. All eight parties contributed tremendously to the process and, indeed, we needed the approval of all eight but it was very difficult,” said the retired US statesman.
The eight parties referred to were the UUP, SDLP, Sinn Féin, Alliance, Progressive Unionist Party, Women’s Coalition, Labour Coalition and Ulster Democratic Party.
Senator Mitchell reminded members of the Oireachtas of the sheer intensity of the talks.
"Even though I was physically present throughout, it is hard for me today to recreate the pressure, difficulty and complexity of what they were dealing with at the time.
"They deserve great credit for what they did but the inclusion of a specific process of review, which I am not sure it could have been achieved, would have been very helpful.