Hume, John (1937-...), a Northern Ireland politician, played a leading role in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990's. Hume served as the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) from 1979 to 2001. The SDLP is a moderate Irish Nationalist party, seeking union of Northern Ireland with the neighboring Republic of Ireland, but by peaceful means. Hume started talks with leaders of the extreme nationalist Sinn Fein party that eventually led to Sinn Fein's military group, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), pledging to give up violence. In 1998, Hume shared the Nobel Prize for peace with Northern Irish politician David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionists (see Trimble, David). The unionists seek to maintain Northern Ireland's union with the rest of the United Kingdom.