President Bill Clinton returning to Derry next week to speak at Hume and Trimble tribute

The 42nd President of America will deliver the keynote address at the Guildhall in the city centre on Tuesday afternoon, April 18, at an event organised by the John and Pat Hume Foundation.

The Foundation will present a posthumous tribute to John Hume and David Trimble, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, through music, poetry and reflections during the event.

The artists performing will include Phil Coulter, Derry born Neil Hannon from Divine Comedy, young Derry singer Roe and Tim Wheeler, from the band ASH who played at the historic YES gig in 1998.

Representatives of the Hume and Trimble families will also be in attendance.

Bill Clinton has been to Derry several times and will be returning just days after his successor US President Joe Biden’s current visit to Ireland.

The then sitting US President and First Lady first came to Derry in the winter of 1995.

At the time Derry came to a standstill as tens of thousands of local people packed into Guildhall Square, Waterloo Place, Shipquay Street and along the City Walls to witness Bill Clinton deliver his message of hope.

He told those gathered: “Crossing the border now is as easy as crossing a speed bump, the soldiers are off the streets, the City Walls are open to civilians. There are no more shakedowns as you walk into a store. Daily life has become more ordinary but this will never be an ordinary city!”