03/08/2020 (Agence Europe) – The EU negotiator for the future relationship with the UK, Michel Barnier, and the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, paid tribute on Monday 3 August to John Hume, a moderate Catholic from Northern Ireland who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his role in reconciliation in Northern Ireland and who died the same day at the age of 83. A Member of the British Parliament in 1983, he had brought the conflict in Northern Ireland to the international stage and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998, shared with the Protestant leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, David Trimble, in recognition of their “efforts to find a peaceful solution” to “the troubles” that left 3,500 people dead between 1969 and 1998, AFP reported. Michel Barnier expressed his “respect” on Twitter for the man who became an MEP in 1979. The ‘Irish’ issue is the subject of a specific protocol in the 2019 withdrawal agreement. (SP)