How much are "two balls of roasted snow" worth? Not much. But this is what Nobel laureate John Hume famously gave for those who suggested that he was on the wrong path to building peace in Northern Ireland.
His remark pointed to a single-mindedness that alienated party colleagues, earned him media criticism and led to him being accused of delivering his so-called single transferable speech – the same points over and over again.
But Hume, who died on Monday aged 83, had the last laugh because the post-nationalist vision he so relentlessly championed ended up at the heart of the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 deal that took Northern Ireland, as one observer put it, "from something like war, to something like peace".
In an age of reality-TV presidents, Hume’s death sees him re-emerge as a figure of the utmost seriousness. Not in his personal dealings – the Derryman could be affable, and his singing was up there with the best of Ireland’s famously musical politicians – but his fixation on ending decades of discrimination as well as paramilitary and state violence energised and consumed him.
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This is not the stuff of the career politician. Hume, who had already displayed his innate seriousness by initially choosing to study for the priesthood, turned to the distinctly unglamorous grind of local politics in Derry. Housing rights, schools, visiting those picked up by the police or British army: Hume and those around him knew first-hand what the absence of peace looked and felt like.
Hume often said it was his role in the credit union movement – in which my maternal grandfather John McCluskey rubbed shoulders with the young future Nobel laureate – that gave him most pride.
Still, then, a world away from international peace conferences and Nobel Prizes, Hume had decided early on how a settlement in Northern Ireland would look, and would to talk to anyone to make it a reality. For him, making peace in this way would mean considerable personal and political sacrifice.
Disgruntled colleagues in his Social Democratic and Labour Party accused him of ignoring their advice, particularly over the divisive issue of talking to the republican movement. One suspects Hume knew that bringing Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein into the political process would spell disaster for the SDLP – this sort of political sacrifice to achieve a goal has few parallels.
On a personal level, too, he suffered. Photographs of Hume, weeping at the gravesides of eight people gunned down by loyalist paramilitaries in 1993, made it clear he knew full well the price of failure and the need to persevere, even when the odds seemed stacked against him. That he fell into dementia in his later years, his achievements shrouded in a fog of forgetting, seemed an extravagant cruelty.
Being a “peacemaker” can sometimes be unfairly conflated with a hippy-ish, milquetoast tendency. But Hume’s triumph reveals the patience, pragmatism and persistence needed to be left at the end of the day holding more than a handful of roasted snow.
Declan McVeigh is a sub-editor for The National
Du Plessis plans his retirement
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.
Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.
"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
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Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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England squad
Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (vice-captain), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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