SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan has said that whilst Nelson Mandela’s opening line at his trial was “I am the first accused,” it is clear from the immense and genuine response to his death that he stands globally as the “first admired.”
Mr Durkan was paying tribute to the former South African President who died last night, aged 95.
Mr Durkan, who met Mr Mandela on number of occasions during the course of the Irish peace process, said the late President had become “trusted, respected and loved” so widely across and beyond politics not just because of the absolute integrity of his own choices but also because of the integrity he allowed to others in the compromises and adjustments to be made.
He added: “He had a peerless combination of warm heart and wise head.
“His service of remarkable leadership left an inspirational example to his country, his continent and the democratic world.
“In remembering his valiant struggle against the inequities of the Apartheid regime we should not forget his challenge to an international order which rests on so much power and wealth being vested in the privileged minority of the world.
“In a personal capacity – as an SDLP representative and member of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement – I remember seeing his single, distinctive fist through the crowd when he visited Dublin in 1990.
“This was a man who had real charisma. To see Nelson Mandela there, having freedom in his own country and taking people on the path to the real freedom of democratic agreement really moved me. His clenched fist in Dublin symbolised not only his defiance but all that he offered for the future.
““I can also remember John Hume in 1986 addressing a meeting of the Anti-Apartheid Movement in Dublin and subsequently defending the integrity of the movement in Westminster.
“Indeed, John’s speech in Dublin that night was one that Kader Asmal sent to Nelson Mandela – because for the first time anywhere, a western politician had said we needed sanctions – not just to put economic pressure on the Apartheid regime or as an expression of moral disdain for Apartheid, but also in solidarity with the struggle for democracy in South Africa.
“John Hume was the first politician to say that – and Kader Asmal reminded Nelson Mandela of this when I met him again in 1997 (crediting me as one of the people who had helped to write it).
“In other meetings with Nelson Mandela he talked about people addressing not only the choices that they would have to make but having a sense of the choices that others would also have to make.
Mr Durkan concluded: “Indeed, this was hugely important during the course of our own peace process – or as people moved from ‘grievance to governance’ as I alluded to in my maiden speech at Westminster – and was essentially about being able to be respected yourself in future as well as respecting others.”
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