Unionists and Protestant church leaders join the tributes to Pat Hume

First Minister Paul Givan said it was testament to Mrs Hume’s legacy that her death had prompted so many tributes from home and abroad.

“There is a real sense of loss following the death of Pat Hume,” he said.

“Not just among her friends and family – and my thoughts and prayers are with them at this difficult time – but for the many lives she touched, both directly and indirectly.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson tweeted about how Mrs Hume had “a unique life well lived and no one who met John left the conversation without knowing Pat. A lovely lady”.

UUP leader Doug Beattie tweeted: “Although we never met I am saddened by the death of Pat Hume. My thoughts are with her family and the wider.”

A book of condolence in Londonderry’s Guildhall was opened yesterday by the DUP Mayor of Derry City and Strabane Council Graham Warke.

He said: “I wanted to open this book of condolence today to offer the people the chance to pay their respects and say thank you to a remarkable and courageous woman who was unfailing in her service to the people of this city and right across Northern Ireland and beyond.

“The tributes that have been pouring in from across the globe, from all spectrums of life, are testament to the contribution Pat Hume made in her own right to achieving peace and reconciliation, and the many lives she touched with her kindness and courage. I want to extend my own personal condolences to the Hume family – they have given much over the years and to lose both John and Pat in such a short space of time is particularly heartbreaking.

“However, it must be some comfort to know that Pat’s legacy will live on in the people of this city, and in the ongoing work of the John and Pat Hume Foundation.”

The Most Revd John McDowell, Anglican Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, said: “Anyone who has been involved in public life in Ireland over the past 50 years will be saddened by the news of the death of Mrs Pat Hume, who not only cared for her husband in his long and distressing final illness but was a source of inspiration and stability to him and to all who work for peace in these islands.

“Our thoughts and prayers are especially with John and Pat’s children and with all of those who are grieving most deeply for her today.”

The President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Rev Dr Sahr Yambasu, expressed the church’s sympathy to the family of Mrs Hume.

He said: “Like many others we recognise the invaluable contribution which Pat played in the merging peace process associated with her husband John and others. She was courageous, wise and untiring in her support and encouragement for John. May Pat’s family experience the lasting peace which the Lord promises for such a time as this.”

Pat Hume’s funeral service will take place on Monday. It can be viewed live via St Eugene’s Cathedral webcam at 11am, after which she will be interred in the City cemetery.

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