Seán MacBride Totally Explained

Everything about Sean Macbride totally explained

Seán MacBride (26 January, 1904 – 15 January, 1988) was a prominent international politician.
Rising from a domestic Irish political career, he founded or participated in many non-governmental organizations of the early 20th century, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and Amnesty International. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, the American Medal for Justice in 1975, the Lenin Peace Prize for 1975-76, and the UNESCO Silver Medal in 1980.

Early years

MacBride was born in Paris in 1904, the son of Major John MacBride and Maud Gonne. His first language was French and he was there until after his father was executed following the Easter Rising of 1916. He was sent to school in at Mount St. Benedict's, Gorey, County Wexford in Ireland. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1919 when aged 15, and was an active member during the Anglo-Irish War. He opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and was imprisoned by the Irish Free State during the Civil War.
He was imprisoned several times. On his release in 1924 he worked as a journalist in Paris and London before returning to Dublin in 1926. He studied law and resumed his IRA activities, becoming Chief of Staff of the IRA at age 24. Controversy arose in Kildare when Belfast Protestant socialists marched to Bodenstown in July 1934 and had their banners seized by IRA stewards and 'scuffles broke out'. He was called to the bar in 1937. He resigned from the IRA when Bunreacht na hÉireann (the Constitution of Ireland) was enacted later that year. As a barrister he frequently defended IRA political prisoners. He was unsuccessful in trying to stop the 1944 execution of Charlie Kerins who had killed a Garda Detective Dennis O'Brien (policeman) in 1942.

Clann na Poblachta

In 1946 MacBride founded Clann na Poblachta a republican/socialist party. He hoped it would replace Fianna Fáil as Ireland's major political party. In October 1947, he won a seat in Dáil Éireann at a by-election in the Dublin County constituency. On the same day Patrick Kinane also won the Tipperary by-election for Clann na Poblachta.
However in the 1948 general election only ten seats were won by the party. The party joined with Fine Gael, Irish Labour Party, National Labour and other parties and independents to form the First Inter-Party Government under Fine Gael TD John A. Costello. Two Clann na Poblachta TDs joined the cabinet; MacBride became Minister for External Affairs as a man who "mobilised the conscience of the world in the fight against injustice." He later received the American Medal for Justice (1975), the Lenin Peace Prize (1975-76) and the UNESCO Silver Medal (1980).
During the 1980s he initiated the Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War

which was jointly sponsored by the International Peace Bureau and the International Progress Organization. In close cooperation with Francis Boyle and Hans Köchler of the International Progress Organization he lobbied UNGA for a resolution demanding an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of nuclear arms. The Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons was eventually handed down by the ICJ in 1996.
   He proposed a plan, known as the MacBride Principles, which he argued would eliminate discrimination against Catholics by employers in Northern Ireland and received widespread support for it in the United States and from Sinn Féin. However the MacBride Principles were criticised by the Irish and British Governments and most Northern Ireland parties, including the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), as unworkable and counterproductive.
   He was also a keen pan-Celticist.
   In his later years, MacBride lived in his mother's home, Roebuck House, that served as a meeting place for many years for Irish nationalists, as well as in the Parisian arrondissement where he grew up with his mother, and enjoyed strolling along boyhood paths. He maintained a soft-spoken, unassuming demeanor despite his fame. While strolling through the Centre Pompidou Museum in 1979, and happening upon an exhibit for Amnesty International, he whispered to a colleague "Amnesty, you know, was one of my children."
   Seán MacBride died in Dublin on 15 January 1988, at the age of 83 (11 days before his 84th birthday). MacBride is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery among Irish patriots in a simple grave with his mother, wife, and son.

Curriculum Vitae

� 1946-1965 Leader of Clann na Poblachta

   1947-1958 Member of Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament). � 1948-1951 Minister for External Affairs for Ireland in Inter-Party Government.

   1948-1951 Vice-President of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC). � 1950 President, Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe.

   1954 Offered but declined, Ministerial Office in Irish Government. � 1963-1971 Secretary-General, International Commission of Jurists.

   1966 Consultant to the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace. � 1961-1975 Chairman Amnesty International Executive.

   1968-1974 Chairman of the Executive International Peace Bureau � 1975-1985 President of the Executive International Peace Bureau

   1968-1974 Chairman Special Committee of International NGOs on Human Rights (Geneva). � 1973 Vice-Chairman, Congress of World Peace Forces (Moscow, October 1973).

   1973 Vice-President, World Federation of United Nations Associations. � 1973-1977 Elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations to the post of United Nations Commissioner for Namibia with rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations.

   1977-1980 Chairman, Commission on International Communication for UNESCO. � 1982 Chairman of the International Commission looking into possible violations of international law by Israel after the invasion of Lebanon.

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