March 26, 1999

On this day in 1999, Social Democratic and Labour Party founder and head John Hume revealed that he would donate all£280,000 of Nobel Peace Prize money to the victims of violence in Northern Ireland. As a young ex-seminarian, Hume was inspired by the example of Martin Luther King, Jr., and led a nonviolent civil rights movement in his home town of Derry. Never giving up on the quest for a peaceful solution, he worked continuously for tolerance and international cooperation. His meeting with Unionist leaders led to the 1993 Joint Declaration by Britain and Ireland, and the 1994 cease-fire agreement between the IRA and Unionist paramilitaries. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along side Hume.