John Hume hailed as Ireland’s Martin Luther King

Current SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, who represents the Foyle seat Mr Hume heldfor two decades, said the island had lost its most significant andconsequential political figure of the 20th century.

As he signed a book ofcondolence in Derry on Monday, Mr Eastwood compared his political hero to thefamous US civil rights leader.

“John Hume was our Martin Luther King,” hesaid.

“He was the greatest Irishman ever and he achieved something that no onecould ever achieve before him: he ended the Anglo-Irish conflict, the conflictthat had gone on for 800 years, and he gave my generation the opportunity toachieve our political goals peacefully and democratically, and that is anenormous legacy.”