WHERE, it is being asked - not least by the Economist - is SDLP leader John Hume these days, as the peace process which he did so much to start, stalls over decommissioning, and David Trimble and Seamus Mallon struggle with and against each other to find a way forward.
Well, as an MP he is in Westminster, as an MEP he is in Brussels and Strasbourg and as a Nobel Peace Prize winner he has been lecturing around the world in Corsica and in Spain. Last week he attended a party for more than 300 at the Guildhall in his home city of Derry. Amazingly it was hosted by the DUP Mayor of Derry, Joe Miller, who said he wasn't breaking DUP rules by fraternising with the enemy, merely attempting to represent all the people of the city. He had gone ahead despite a bitter attack on him by colleague Gregory Campbell.
Trimble was represented by the former Unionist mayor, Richard Dallas and guests included Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness and Mitchel McLaughlin as well as SDLP members from far and wide. Hume described himself as a Derry man first, an Irishman second and a European third, and said his medal, which he was showing off, was a tribute to everyone in the North.
Meanwhile, as Le Monde reported, Hume, the "nationalist Catholic Irishman", gave a lecture on pacifism to Corsican nationalists and all the old politicians turned up. The nationalist parties were represented and for the first time in many years the violently militant antagonists sat side by side to listen and debate. Hume, speaking in French, denounced violence as fascist.