'He created a light of hope in the most difficult of times' - President Michael D Higgins among those paying tribute to John Hume

STRONG LEADERSHIP: John Hume, who helped bring about peace in the North, on a rooftop overlooking the Catholic Bogside neighbourhood of Derry in 1970. Picture: Leif Skoogfors/Getty Images

Aoife Walsh

SDLP leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume has been described as a "great hero and true peace maker" in tributes paid to him this morning.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin, former prime minister Tony Blair, President Michael D Higgins and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald are among a number of political figures who have extended their condolences to the Hume family.