Hume steps down as SDLP leader

John Hume surrounded by party members at the news conference

The leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, John Hume, has resigned from the post.

Mr Hume, 64, who has been at the helm of the party since 1979, made the announcement at a news conference at Stormont on Monday.

He said he had suffered from serious health problems and would be cutting down on his workload.

It is understood he will stand aside at the party's annual conference scheduled for November.

I was leader of a great team of people

John Hume

However, Mr Hume - who received the Nobel Prize jointly in 1998 with Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble - is to remain as an MP and an MEP.

Mr Hume said it had been a difficult decision but he was proud to have been the party leader.

"I was leader of a great team of people, all of whom have been totally committed to peace and stability on our streets," he said.

The news came a year after Mr Hume stepped down from his seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He said he had decided to cut his workload because of ill health.

It also came at another crucial phase in the Northern Ireland peace process, with just days to go before the latest deadline for the parties to agree on the issues deadlocking the process.

Seamus Mallon: Tribute to party leader

SDLP deputy leader Seamus Mallon paid tribute to Mr Hume saying the party had been "lucky" to have had a leader of such "courage and perception".

He refused to be drawn on whether he would seek the party leadership when Mr Hume steps down.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said he had "never doubted the sincerity of John's ceaseless efforts to find an agreed resolution".

"He deserves credit for his work to redefine Irish nationalism and move it away from simplistic territorial certainties and instead to concentrate on people rather than land and on seeking agreement between the people who actually inhabit the land in question," said Mr Trimble.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said Mr Hume had given "decades of public service" to the province.

'No friend to unionists'

However, anti-Agreement assembly member Norman Boyd of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party said there would be "few tears shed in the unionist community for the resignation of John Hume".

He added: "John Hume has been no friend of the unionist community and over 30 years has weakened the unionist position at every opportunity."

Mr Hume is internationally renowned for his role as a peacemaker in Northern Ireland.

He co-founded the moderate SDLP in 1970, and took over as party leader from Gerry Fitt nine years later.

Mr Hume has played a huge role in politics in the province for more than 30 years. The IRA ceasefire in 1994 happened after his talks with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.

Gerry Adams: Ground-breaking talks with John Hume

But his huge workload has taken a toll on his health.

In August 1999, Mr Hume was rushed to hospital while attending a conference in the Austrian resort of Alpbach.

He underwent emergency bowel surgery which meant a period of recuperation.

Mr Hume topped the poll in the Foyle constituency in the 1998 assembly elections with 12,581 votes.

The SDLP leader also comfortably topped the poll in the 1997 general election in the constituency with 25,109 votes.

However, Sinn Fein took an extra two seats in this year's general election, overtaking the SDLP as the main nationalist party in Northern Ireland.

Mr Hume has been Foyle's MP since the constituency was created in 1983 and a member of the European Parliament since 1979.