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==Early life==
==Early life==
MacBride was born in [[Paris]] in 1904, the son of [[Maud Gonne]] and Major [[John MacBride]].<ref name="Saturday Evening Post:1949">Saturday Evening Post; 23 April 1949, Vol. 221 Issue 43, pp. 31–174, 5p</ref> As a founding member of [[Inghinidhe na hÉireann]] and [[Cumann na mBan]], his mother was to become a prominent figure in [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]] and [[Irish republicanism|republican]] circles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MacBride, (Edith) Maud Gonne {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/macbride-edith-maud-gonne-a5110 |access-date=2021-06-14 |website=www.dib.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bendheim |first=Kim |url=https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/the-fascination-of-whats-difficult/ |title=The Fascination of What's Difficult: A Life of Maud Gonne |publisher=OR Books |year=2021 |isbn=978-1682192061}}</ref> Later, in the thirties, she became a devotee of the [[social credit]] ideas of [[C. H. Douglas|Major C.H. Douglas]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warren |first=Gordon |date=2020-11-24 |title=Maud Gonne and the 1930s' movement for basic income in Ireland |url=https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/1124/1180189-maud-gonne-basic-income-irish-social-credit-party-ireland-1930s/ |language=en}}</ref> and was "noisily anti-Semitic".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyce |first=David George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkRdDwAAQBAJ&dq=maud+gonne+anti+semitic&pg=PA108 |title=Revolution in Ireland, 1879–1923 |date=1988-01-01 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |isbn=978-1-349-18985-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Garvin |first=Tom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2fb4AwAAQBAJ&dq=maud+gonne+anti+semitic&pg=PT170 |title=Nationalist Revolutionaries in Ireland 1858–1928: Patriots, Priests and the Roots of the Irish Revolution |date=2005-09-13 |publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd |isbn=978-0-7171-6362-5 |language=en}}</ref> His father had led the [[Irish Transvaal Brigade]] against the [[British Empire|British]] in the [[Second Boer War]]. Within a year of McBride's birth, he returned to [[Dublin]] where, following his participation in the [[Easter Rising]], John McBride was court-martialed by the British and executed in May 1916.<ref name="MakingMartyrs">{{Cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Mark |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-62905-6.pdf |title=Secular Martyrdom in Britain and Ireland |date=2018 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-319-62905-6 |editor1-last=Outram |editor1-first=Quentin |page=171 |chapter=Making Irish Martyrs: The Impact and Legacy of the Execution of the Leaders of the Easter Rising, 1916 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-62905-6 |lccn=2017947721 |editor2-last=Laybourn |editor2-first=Keith |editor2-link=Keith Laybourn}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McEvoy |first=Dermot |date=18 April 2021 |title=Arbour Hill, Dublin's forgotten memorial to the men of 1916 |work= |publisher=Irish Central |url=https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/arbour-hill-dublin-leaders-1916-easter-rising |access-date=6 November 2022}}</ref><ref>Jordan Anthony J. ''The Yeats Gonne MacBride Triangle'' (Westport Books 2000) pp.&nbsp;49–104</ref>
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MacBride was born in [[Paris]] in 1904, the son of Major [[John MacBride]]<ref name="Saturday Evening Post:1949">Saturday Evening Post; 23 April 1949, Vol. 221 Issue 43, pp. 31–174, 5p</ref> and [[Maud Gonne]]. His first language was [[French language|French]], and he retained, or as some would claim, affected a French accent in the English language for the rest of his life.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dungan |first1=Myles |title=Speaking ill of the dead |date=2007 |publisher=New Island Books|page=156}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Delaney |first1=Eamon |title=An Accidental Diplomat |date=2001 |publisher=New Island Books |page=391}}</ref><ref name="Ireland, a Television History">{{Citation|title=Ireland - A Television History - Part 10 of 13 - 'Civil War 1921-1923'|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxp9OVvqDuE|language=en|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229061217/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxp9OVvqDuE&list=PL-NlJbmY3woh0SDUIy2ION2-DWyoz8oxY&index=11|url-status=live}}</ref> MacBride first studied at the [[Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague]], and remained in Paris until his father's execution by the British for his involvement in the 1916 [[Easter Rising]], when he was sent to school at Mount St Benedict's, [[Gorey]], [[County Wexford]] in Ireland, and briefly at the [[Downside School]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://craanfordmonaseedhollyfort.com/mount-st-benedict|title = Mount St Benedict - Craanford Monaseed Hollyfort}}</ref>

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McBride's first language was [[French language|French]], and he retained, or as some would claim, affected a French accent in the English language for the rest of his life.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dungan |first1=Myles |title=Speaking ill of the dead |date=2007 |publisher=New Island Books|page=156}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Delaney |first1=Eamon |title=An Accidental Diplomat |date=2001 |publisher=New Island Books |page=391}}</ref><ref name="Ireland, a Television History">{{Citation|title=Ireland - A Television History - Part 10 of 13 - 'Civil War 1921-1923'|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxp9OVvqDuE|language=en|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-date=29 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229061217/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxp9OVvqDuE&list=PL-NlJbmY3woh0SDUIy2ION2-DWyoz8oxY&index=11|url-status=live}}</ref> MacBride first studied at the [[Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague]], and remained in Paris until his father's execution by the British for his involvement in the 1916 [[Easter Rising]], when he was sent to school at Mount St Benedict's, [[Gorey]], [[County Wexford]] in Ireland, and briefly at the [[Downside School]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://craanfordmonaseedhollyfort.com/mount-st-benedict|title = Mount St Benedict - Craanford Monaseed Hollyfort}}</ref>


MacBride first became involved in politics during the [[1918 Irish general election]] in which he was active for [[Sinn Féin]]. The following year in 1919, aged 15, he lied about his age to join the [[Irish Volunteers]], which fought as part of the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]], and took part in the [[Irish War of Independence]]. He opposed the 1921 [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] and was imprisoned by the [[Irish Free State]] during the [[Irish Civil War]].<ref name="mac">{{cite book|last=Jordan|first=Anthony J.|year=1993|pages=26–35|title=Seán MacBride: A Biography|location=Dublin|publisher=Blackwater Press|isbn=0-86121-453-6}}</ref>
MacBride first became involved in politics during the [[1918 Irish general election]] in which he was active for [[Sinn Féin]]. The following year in 1919, aged 15, he lied about his age to join the [[Irish Volunteers]], which fought as part of the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]], and took part in the [[Irish War of Independence]]. He opposed the 1921 [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] and was imprisoned by the [[Irish Free State]] during the [[Irish Civil War]].<ref name="mac">{{cite book|last=Jordan|first=Anthony J.|year=1993|pages=26–35|title=Seán MacBride: A Biography|location=Dublin|publisher=Blackwater Press|isbn=0-86121-453-6}}</ref>


== Anti-Treaty IRA, cooperation with the Soviets ==
On his release in 1924, MacBride studied law at [[University College Dublin]] and resumed his IRA activities.<ref name=mac2>Jordan (1993), p. 41.</ref> He worked briefly for [[Éamon de Valera]] as his personal secretary, travelling with him to [[Rome]] to meet various dignitaries.
On his release in 1924, MacBride studied law at [[University College Dublin]] and resumed his IRA activities.<ref name=mac2>Jordan (1993), p. 41.</ref> He worked briefly for [[Éamon de Valera]] as his personal secretary, travelling with him to [[Rome]] to meet various dignitaries.


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In September 1927, Krivitsky sent the IRA a message from Amsterdam, demanding to see MacBride immediately, claiming to have a "present" he was anxious to give away, and naming a cafe where the meeting could take place. As MacBride was then imprisoned in Dublin, the IRA's [[chief of staff]], [[Moss Twomey]], replied that the request was "rather awkward and impossible to fulfill at the present". In response, Twomey and two other senior IRA members travelled to Amsterdam and met with Krivitsky instead.<ref>Tom Mahon and James J. Gillogly (2008), ''Decoding the IRA'', [[Mercier Press]], [[Cork City]]. Page 262.</ref>
In September 1927, Krivitsky sent the IRA a message from Amsterdam, demanding to see MacBride immediately, claiming to have a "present" he was anxious to give away, and naming a cafe where the meeting could take place. As MacBride was then imprisoned in Dublin, the IRA's [[chief of staff]], [[Moss Twomey]], replied that the request was "rather awkward and impossible to fulfill at the present". In response, Twomey and two other senior IRA members travelled to Amsterdam and met with Krivitsky instead.<ref>Tom Mahon and James J. Gillogly (2008), ''Decoding the IRA'', [[Mercier Press]], [[Cork City]]. Page 262.</ref>

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In 1929 an Irish section of the [[League Against Imperialism]] was formed and MacBride served as its secretary.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=Robert Dudley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa5nAAAAMAAJ&q=sean+macbride+league+against+imperialism |title=Irish Historical Studies: Joint Journal of the Irish Historical Society and the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies |last2=Moody |first2=Theodore William |date=2003 |publisher=Hodges, Figgis & Company |language=en |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726065620/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa5nAAAAMAAJ&q=sean+macbride+league+against+imperialism |archive-date=26 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Aimed at creating a "mass anti-imperialist movement", the organization was founded with the support of the [[Comintern]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jani |first=Disha Karnad |date=2022 |title=The league against imperialism, national liberation, and the economic question |journal=Journal of Global History |language=en |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=210–232 |doi=10.1017/S1740022822000079 |issn=1740-0228 |s2cid=248445034 |doi-access=free}}</ref>


Towards the end of the 1920s, after many supporters had left to join [[Fianna Fáil]], some members of the IRA started pushing for a more left-wing agenda. After the [[IRA Army Council]] voted down the idea, MacBride launched a new movement, [[Saor Éire]] ("Free Ireland"), in 1931. Although it was a non-military organisation, Saor Éire was declared unlawful along with the IRA, [[Cumann na mBan]] and nine other bodies. MacBride, meanwhile, became the security services' number-one target.<ref name=mac5>Jordan (1993), p. 57.</ref>
Towards the end of the 1920s, after many supporters had left to join [[Fianna Fáil]], some members of the IRA started pushing for a more left-wing agenda. After the [[IRA Army Council]] voted down the idea, MacBride launched a new movement, [[Saor Éire]] ("Free Ireland"), in 1931. Although it was a non-military organisation, Saor Éire was declared unlawful along with the IRA, [[Cumann na mBan]] and nine other bodies. MacBride, meanwhile, became the security services' number-one target.<ref name=mac5>Jordan (1993), p. 57.</ref>
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In 1937, MacBride was called to the [[Irish Bar|bar]]. He then resigned from the IRA when the [[Constitution of Ireland]] was enacted later that year. As a barrister, MacBride frequently defended IRA prisoners of the state ([[Thomas Harte (Irish republican)|Thomas Hart]] & [[Patrick McGrath (Irish republican)|Patrick McGrath]]). MacBride was unsuccessful in preventing the 1944 [[death by hanging]] of [[Charlie Kerins]], who had been convicted based on fingerprint evidence of the 1942 ambush and murder of [[Garda Síochána|Garda]] [[Detective Sergeant]] [[Denis O'Brien (police officer)|Denis O'Brien]]. In 1946, during the inquest into the death of [[Seán McCaughey]], MacBride embarrassed the Irish State by forcing them to admit that conditions in [[Portlaoise Prison]] were inhumane.<ref name="IRA Documentary History">{{cite book |last=Hanley |first=Brian |year=2010 |page=122 |title=The IRA: A Documentary History 1916–2005 |location=Dublin |publisher=Gill & Macmillan |isbn=978-0717148134}}</ref>
In 1937, MacBride was called to the [[Irish Bar|bar]]. He then resigned from the IRA when the [[Constitution of Ireland]] was enacted later that year. As a barrister, MacBride frequently defended IRA prisoners of the state ([[Thomas Harte (Irish republican)|Thomas Hart]] & [[Patrick McGrath (Irish republican)|Patrick McGrath]]). MacBride was unsuccessful in preventing the 1944 [[death by hanging]] of [[Charlie Kerins]], who had been convicted based on fingerprint evidence of the 1942 ambush and murder of [[Garda Síochána|Garda]] [[Detective Sergeant]] [[Denis O'Brien (police officer)|Denis O'Brien]]. In 1946, during the inquest into the death of [[Seán McCaughey]], MacBride embarrassed the Irish State by forcing them to admit that conditions in [[Portlaoise Prison]] were inhumane.<ref name="IRA Documentary History">{{cite book |last=Hanley |first=Brian |year=2010 |page=122 |title=The IRA: A Documentary History 1916–2005 |location=Dublin |publisher=Gill & Macmillan |isbn=978-0717148134}}</ref>


==Clann na Poblachta==
==Clann na Poblachta, Minister for External Affairs==
{{main|Clann na Poblachta}}
{{main|Clann na Poblachta}}
[[File:Seán MacBride circa 1947.jpg|thumb|left|MacBride circa 1947 when he founded Clann na Poblachta]]
[[File:Seán MacBride circa 1947.jpg|thumb|left|MacBride circa 1947 when he founded Clann na Poblachta]]
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Also in 1951, Clann na Poblachta was reduced to two seats after the general election. MacBride kept his seat and was re-elected again in 1954. Opposing the internment of IRA suspects during the [[Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border Campaign]] (1956–1962), he contested both the [[1957 Irish general election|1957]] and [[1961 Irish general election|1961]] general elections but failed to be elected both times. He then retired from politics and continued practising as a barrister.
Also in 1951, Clann na Poblachta was reduced to two seats after the general election. MacBride kept his seat and was re-elected again in 1954. Opposing the internment of IRA suspects during the [[Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army)|Border Campaign]] (1956–1962), he contested both the [[1957 Irish general election|1957]] and [[1961 Irish general election|1961]] general elections but failed to be elected both times. He then retired from politics and continued practising as a barrister.


==International politics==
==International roles and commissions==
[[File:Seán MacBride 1986.jpg|thumb|280px|Seán MacBride in 1986]]
[[File:Seán MacBride 1986.jpg|thumb|280px|Seán MacBride in 1986]]
After retiring from politics in Ireland, McBride assumed various international commissions and roles. He was among a group of lawyers who founded [[JUSTICE]]—the UK-based human rights and law reform organisation—initially to monitor the [[show trials]] after the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|1956 Budapest uprising]],. Later it became the UK section of the [[International Commission of Jurists]] for which McBride, from 1963 to 1971, was Secretary-General. In 1966, his standing on the Commission was unsuccessfully challenged by [[United States|US]] claims that he had been involved with a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] funding operation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 February 2005 |title=Peter Benenson |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-benenson-13233.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030134615/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-benenson-13233.html |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=24 October 2020 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>
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In 1929 an Irish section of the [[League Against Imperialism]] was formed and MacBride served as its secretary.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa5nAAAAMAAJ&q=sean+macbride+league+against+imperialism|title=Irish Historical Studies: Joint Journal of the Irish Historical Society and the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies|last1=Edwards|first1=Robert Dudley|last2=Moody|first2=Theodore William|date=2003|publisher=Hodges, Figgis & Company|language=en|access-date=25 September 2020|archive-date=26 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726065620/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wa5nAAAAMAAJ&q=sean+macbride+league+against+imperialism|url-status=live}}</ref>


In 1961, McBride was a co-founder of [[Amnesty International]], and he served as its International Chairman until 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Peace Prize Laureates: Seán MacBride 1974 |url=https://peaceprizelaureates.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/laureate/undefined |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=peaceprizelaureates.nobelpeacecenter.org |language=en}}</ref>
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MacBride served as the International Chairman of [[Amnesty International]] from 1961 until 1975. He was Secretary-General of the [[International Commission of Jurists]] from 1963 to 1971. Following this, he was also elected Chair (1968–1974) and later President (1974–1985) of the [[International Peace Bureau]] in Geneva. He was vice-president of the [[Organisation for European Economic Co-operation]] from 1948 to 1951 and President of the Committee of Ministers of the [[Council of Europe]] in 1950. He was also involved in the International Prisoners of Conscience Fund and was appointed the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems in 1977.<ref name= mac10>Jordan (1993), pp. 157–165</ref><ref name="EB">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-MacBride|title=Seán MacBride {{!}} Irish statesman|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629235541/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-MacBride|url-status=live}}</ref>


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In 1963, he had helped draft the constitution of the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU); following consultations on the constitutions of newly-independent [[Ghana]], [[Zambia]] and [[Tanzania]].<ref name="hi">{{Cite web |date=21 February 2013 |title=Seán MacBride and Namibia |url=https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/sean-macbride-and-namibia/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819060809/https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/sean-macbride-and-namibia/ |archive-date=19 August 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019 |website=History Ireland}}</ref>
He drafted the constitution of the [[Organisation of African Unity]] (OAU); and also the first constitution of [[Ghana]] (the first UK African colony to achieve independence) which lasted for nine years until the coup of 1966.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}


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In 1968, McBride was elected Chair and, in 1975, President of the [[International Peace Bureau]] in Geneva, one of the world's oldest international [[peace]] federations, a position he retained until 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Peace Prize 1974 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1974/macbride/biographical/ |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref> He was also involved in the International Prisoners of Conscience Fund and was appointed the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems in 1977.<ref name="mac10">Jordan (1993), pp. 157–165</ref><ref name="EB">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-MacBride|title=Seán MacBride {{!}} Irish statesman|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629235541/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sean-MacBride|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 1966, the [[Federal government of the United States|US government]] reported that he had been involved with a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) funding operation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 February 2005|title=Peter Benenson|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-benenson-13233.html|access-date=24 October 2020|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030134615/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-benenson-13233.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


In the course of the 1970s, he held various positions with the [[United Nations]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1973, he was elected by the [[United Nations General Assembly|UN General Assembly]] to the post of High Commissioner for [[Namibia]], with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. It was thought that status he would enjoy with [[Apartheid]] regime as the son of the man who had led the [[Irish Transvaal Brigade|Irish (the "MacBride's Brigade")]] to fight a alongside the Boers in their [[Second Boer War|resistance to the British]], was assist in negotiating [[Republic of South Africa (1961-1994)|South Africa]]'s withdrawal from the territory.<ref name="hi" /> In 1977, he was appointed president of the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, set up by [[UNESCO]]. In 1980, this produced the controversial [[MacBride report|McBride Report]] which called for policies to reduce the international dominance of the western media.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The MacBride Report |url=https://archive.ccrvoices.org/articles/the-macbride-report.html |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=archive.ccrvoices.org |language=en-us}}</ref>
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MacBride was a signatory of the Convention for European Economic Co-operation, the Convention for the Protection of War Victims (1949) and the [[European Convention on Human Rights]]. He also played a part in drawing up the constitutions of [[Ghana]], [[Zambia]] and [[Tanzania]].<ref name="hi">{{Cite web|url=https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/sean-macbride-and-namibia/|title=Seán MacBride and Namibia|date=21 February 2013|website=History Ireland|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819060809/https://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/sean-macbride-and-namibia/|url-status=live}}</ref>


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During the 1980s, he initiated the Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/na.htm Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021063906/http://www.i-p-o.org/Na.htm|date=21 October 2006}}. I-p-o.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.</ref> which was jointly sponsored by the [[International Peace Bureau]] and the [[International Progress Organization]]. In close co-operation with [[Francis Boyle]] and [[Hans Köchler]] of the [[International Progress Organization]] he lobbied the General Assembly for a resolution demanding an Advisory Opinion from the [[International Court of Justice]] on the legality of nuclear arms. The Advisory Opinion on the [[Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July 1996|''Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons'']] was eventually handed down by the ICJ in 1996.
Some of MacBride's appointments to the [[United Nations System]] included:
*[[Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations#Assistant Secretary-General|Assistant Secretary-General]]
*President of the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]]
*[[United Nations High Commissioner for Namibia|High Commissioner for Namibia]], in which capacity he created the [[United Nations Institute for Namibia]]<ref name=hi/>
*President of [[UNESCO]]'s International Commission for the Study of Communications Problems, which produced the controversial 1980 [[MacBride report]].


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In 1982, MacBride was chairman of the International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon. The other members were [[Richard Falk]], [[Kader Asmal]], Brian Bercusson, Géraud de la Pradelle, and Stefan Wild. The commission's report, which concluded that "the [[government of Israel]] has committed acts of aggression contrary to international law", was published in 1983 under the title ''Israel in Lebanon''.<ref>{{cite book |last=MacBride |first=Seán |title=Israel in Lebanon: The Report of International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon |author2=A. K. Asmal |author3=B. Bercusson |author4=R. A. Falk |author5=G. de la Pradelle |author6=S. Wild |publisher=Ithaca Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-903729-96-2 |location=London |page=191}}</ref>
==Human rights==
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, MacBride worked for human rights worldwide. He took an Irish case to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] after hundreds of suspected [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|IRA]] members were interned without trial in the Republic of Ireland in 1958. He was among a group of lawyers who founded [[JUSTICE]]—the UK-based human rights and law reform organisation—initially to monitor the [[show trials]] after the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|1956 Budapest uprising]], but which later became the UK section of the [[International Commission of Jurists]]. He was active in a number of international organisations concerned with human rights, among them the [[Prisoner of conscience|Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund]] (trustee).


== Nobel Peace Prize and other international honours ==
In 1973, he was elected by the General Assembly to the post of High Commissioner for Namibia, with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. The actions of his father John MacBride in leading the [[Irish Transvaal Brigade]] (also known as MacBride's Brigade) on the side of the [[Boer republics]] against the British in the [[Second Boer War]] gave MacBride a unique access to [[South Africa]]'s [[apartheid]] government. In 1977, he was appointed president of the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, set up by UNESCO. In 1980 he was appointed Chairman of [[UNESCO]]. MacBride supported the [[Dunnes Stores Strike]] and attended at least one of their gatherings in May 1985.<ref name=hi/>
MacBride's work was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (1974)<ref name="UN chronicle">United Nations Chronicle, Sep95, Vol. 32 Issue 3, p. 14, 2/5p, 1c; (AN 9511075547)</ref> as a man who "mobilised the conscience of the world in the fight against injustice" He shared the prize with [[Eisaku Satō|Eisaku Sato]], the former [[Prime Minister of Japan|Japanese Prime Minister]] who was acknowledged for representing the Japanese people's will for peace, and for signing the nuclear arms [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|Non-Proliferation Treaty]] in 1970.<ref>{{cite web |title=Eisaku Sato |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1974/sato-facts.html |access-date=21 January 2015 |website=Nobel Prize |publisher=The Norwegian Nobel Institute}}</ref>


MacBride's work was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (1974)<ref name="UN chronicle">United Nations Chronicle, Sep95, Vol. 32 Issue 3, p. 14, 2/5p, 1c; (AN 9511075547)</ref> as a man who "mobilised the conscience of the world in the fight against injustice". He later received the [[Lenin Peace Prize]] (1975–76) and the UNESCO Silver Medal for Service (1980). He received the Lenin Peace Prize for his opposition to what MacBride referred to as "this absolutely obscene arms race." He was one of only two to win both the Lenin and Nobel peace prizes, the other being [[Linus Pauling]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/16/obituaries/sean-macbride-of-ireland-is-dead-at-83.html|title=Sean MacBride of Ireland Is Dead at 83|last=Blair|first=William G.|date=16 January 1988|work=The New York Times|access-date=28 August 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=19 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819111126/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/16/obituaries/sean-macbride-of-ireland-is-dead-at-83.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Other international honours followed: the [[Lenin Peace Prize]] in 1975; the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1978;<ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023909/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service |archive-date=15 December 2016 |access-date=4 November 2020 |website=www.achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]}}</ref> and the UNESCO Silver Medal for Service (1980). He received the Lenin Peace Prize for his opposition to what MacBride referred to as "this absolutely obscene arms race." He was one of only two to win both the Lenin and Nobel peace prizes, the other being [[Linus Pauling]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Blair |first=William G. |date=16 January 1988 |title=Sean MacBride of Ireland Is Dead at 83 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/16/obituaries/sean-macbride-of-ireland-is-dead-at-83.html |url-status=live |access-date=28 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819111126/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/16/obituaries/sean-macbride-of-ireland-is-dead-at-83.html |archive-date=19 August 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>


== Last Irish interventions ==
⚫
During the 1980s, he initiated the Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War<ref>[http://i-p-o.org/na.htm Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021063906/http://www.i-p-o.org/Na.htm |date=21 October 2006 }}. I-p-o.org. Retrieved 30 July 2012.</ref> which was jointly sponsored by the [[International Peace Bureau]] and the [[International Progress Organization]]. In close co-operation with [[Francis Boyle]] and [[Hans Köchler]] of the [[International Progress Organization]] he lobbied the General Assembly for a resolution demanding an Advisory Opinion from the [[International Court of Justice]] on the legality of nuclear arms. The Advisory Opinion on the [[Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 8 July 1996|''Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons'']] was eventually handed down by the ICJ in 1996.
In 1977, in the midst of the [[Northern Ireland]] [[The Troubles|Troubles]], McBride co-operating with [[Desmond Boal]] [[Queens counsel|(QC]] and former chairman of [[Ian Paisley|Ian Paisle]]<nowiki/>y's [[Democratic Unionist Party]]) as joint mediator in confidential negotiations between the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] (PIRA) and the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] about a federal settlement for Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maune |first=Patrick |date=2022 |title=Boal, Desmond Norman Orr {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/boal-desmond-norman-orr-a10229 |access-date=2023-08-21 |website=www.dib.ie}}</ref> Under their auspices, West Belfast priest [[Des Wilson (Irish Catholic priest)|Des Wilson]] helped set up meeting between Boal and reputed PIRA commander, [[Gerry Adams]]. Inasmuch as they were "frank and constructive", Adams found the meeting useful but otherwise unproductive.<ref>Sharrock and Devenport (1997), p. 155</ref>


In 1984, McBride was one of four well known Irish activists, two Catholic and two Protestants, who endorsed as set of [[Fair Employment|fair-employment]] guidelines for American investment in Northern Ireland, intended to redress a history of anti-Catholic employment discrimination.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-07 |title=The MacBride Principles {{!}} Irish America |url=https://www.irishamerica.com/2022/10/the-macbride-principles/ |access-date=2023-05-12 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 March 1996 |title=The Nine McBride Principles |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-nine-macbride-principles-1.32756 |access-date=2023-08-18 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> The campaign for what became known as the MacBride Principles pressed the British government to introduce fair-employment legislation, and in 1999 succeeded in Having the Principles, already adopted in numerous U.S. jurisdictions, signed into U.S. federal law by [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reporter |first=Staff |date=2011-02-16 |title=Editorial MacBride’s triumph |url=https://group.irishecho.com/2011/02/editorial-macbrides-triumph-2/ |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=Irish Echo}}</ref>
⚫
In 1982, MacBride was chairman of the International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon. The other members were [[Richard Falk]], [[Kader Asmal]], Brian Bercusson, Géraud de la Pradelle, and Stefan Wild. The commission's report, which concluded that "the [[government of Israel]] has committed acts of aggression contrary to international law", was published in 1983 under the title ''Israel in Lebanon''.<ref>{{cite book|last=MacBride|first=Seán|author2=A. K. Asmal |author3=B. Bercusson |author4=R. A. Falk |author5=G. de la Pradelle |author6=S. Wild |title = Israel in Lebanon: The Report of International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon|publisher=Ithaca Press|year=1983|location=London|page=191|isbn=0-903729-96-2}}</ref>


In Irish Republic, MacBride edited in 1981 a report of a Commission of Enquiry into the Irish Penal System. ''Crime and Punishment.''broadly condemned the country's prisons, unreformed since independence, for failing to address the task of offender rehabilitation and consequently for its high degree of recidivism.<ref>Sean McBride ed. (1982). ''Crime and Punishment : Report of the Commission of Enquiry into the Irish Penal System.'' Dublin : Ward River Press.</ref>
He proposed a plan in 1984, known as the [[MacBride Principles]], which he argued would eliminate discrimination against [[Irish 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 [[Government of Ireland|Irish]] and [[Government of the United Kingdom|British governments]] and most political parties in Northern Ireland, including the nationalist [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP), as unworkable and counterproductive.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}


In 1983, McBride voted yes to the [[Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland|Eighth Amendment to the Constitution]], enshrining the legal ban on abortion, and wrote a newspaper article two days before supporting his position.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Breda |date=23 April 2016 |title=Amnesty abandons values of Seán MacBride |work=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/amnesty-abandons-values-of-sean-macbride-1.2621162}}</ref> In 1985, he supported the largely female workforce in the [[Dunnes Stores Strike]] and attended at least one of their rallies.<ref name="hi" />
He was also a keen [[pan-Celticism|pan-Celticist]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}


==Later life and death==
==Later life and death==
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. While strolling through the [[Centre Pompidou|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."{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}
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.

In 1978, he received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service|access-date=4 November 2020|archive-date=15 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161215023909/https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service|url-status=live}}</ref>


Seán MacBride died in [[Dublin]] on 15 January 1988, eleven days before his 84th birthday. He is buried in [[Glasnevin Cemetery]] in a grave with his mother, and his wife, who died in 1976.
Seán MacBride died in [[Dublin]] on 15 January 1988, eleven days before his 84th birthday. He is buried in [[Glasnevin Cemetery]] in a grave with his mother, and his wife, who died in 1976.

Revision as of 16:16, 24 August 2023

Seán MacBride
MacBride in 1984
Minister for External Affairs
In office
18 February 1948 – 13 June 1951
TaoiseachJohn A. Costello
Preceded byÉamon de Valera
Succeeded byFrank Aiken
Leader of Clann na Poblachta
In office
21 January 1946 – 3 June 1965
Preceded byNew office
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Chief of Staff of the IRA
In office
24 April 1936 – 1937
Preceded byMoss Twomey
Succeeded byTom Barry
Teachta Dála
In office
February 1948 – March 1957
ConstituencyDublin South-West
In office
October 1947 – February 1948
ConstituencyDublin County
Personal details
Born(1904-01-26)26 January 1904
Paris, France
Died15 January 1988(1988-01-15) (aged 83)
Dublin, Ireland
Resting placeGlasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political party
Spouse
Catalina Bulfin
​
​
(m. 1924⁠–⁠1976)​
Children2
Parents
RelativesIseult Gonne (half sister)
Education
Alma materUniversity College Dublin

Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988)[1] was an Irish Clann na Poblachta politician who served as Minister for External Affairs from 1948 to 1951, Leader of Clann na Poblachta from 1946 to 1965 and Chief of Staff of the IRA from 1936 to 1937. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1947 to 1957.[2][3]

Rising from a domestic Irish political career, he founded or participated in many international organisations of the 20th century, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe and Amnesty International. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, the Lenin Peace Prize for 1975–1976 and the UNESCO Silver Medal for Service in 1980.

Early life

MacBride was born in Paris in 1904, the son of Maud Gonne and Major John MacBride.[4] As a founding member of Inghinidhe na hÉireann and Cumann na mBan, his mother was to become a prominent figure in Irish nationalist and republican circles.[5][6] Later, in the thirties, she became a devotee of the social credit ideas of Major C.H. Douglas[7] and was "noisily anti-Semitic".[8][9] His father had led the Irish Transvaal Brigade against the British in the Second Boer War. Within a year of McBride's birth, he returned to Dublin where, following his participation in the Easter Rising, John McBride was court-martialed by the British and executed in May 1916.[10][11][12]

McBride's first language was French, and he retained, or as some would claim, affected a French accent in the English language for the rest of his life.[13][14][15] MacBride first studied at the Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague, and remained in Paris until his father's execution by the British for his involvement in the 1916 Easter Rising, when he was sent to school at Mount St Benedict's, Gorey, County Wexford in Ireland, and briefly at the Downside School.[16]

MacBride first became involved in politics during the 1918 Irish general election in which he was active for Sinn Féin. The following year in 1919, aged 15, he lied about his age to join the Irish Volunteers, which fought as part of the Irish Republican Army, and took part in the Irish War of Independence. He opposed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty and was imprisoned by the Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War.[17]

Anti-Treaty IRA, cooperation with the Soviets

On his release in 1924, MacBride studied law at University College Dublin and resumed his IRA activities.[18] He worked briefly for Éamon de Valera as his personal secretary, travelling with him to Rome to meet various dignitaries.

In January 1925, on his twenty-first birthday, MacBride married Catalina "Kid" Bulfin, a woman four years his senior who shared his political views.[19] Bulfin was the daughter of the Irish nationalist publisher and travel-writer William Bulfin.

Before returning to Dublin in 1927, where he became the IRA's Director of Intelligence, MacBride worked as a journalist in Paris and London.

According to historians Tom Mahon and James J. Gillogly, recently deciphered IRA messages from the 1920s reveal that the organisation's two main sources of funding were Clan na Gael and the Soviet Union.[20] The messages further reveal that MacBride, before becoming IRA Director of Intelligence, was involved in the espionage activities in Great Britain of GRU spymaster Walter Krivitsky, whom ciphered IRA communications referred to only by the code name "James".[21]

In addition to supplying the USSR with detailed information on Royal Navy ships and Royal Air Force airplane engines, MacBride provided Soviet agents with "a brief specification and a complete drawing" of ASDIC, an early sonar detection system for enemy submarines during wartime, at a covert meeting in Amsterdam during the autumn of 1926.[22] MacBride also assisted the GRU by providing forged passports to Soviet intelligence operatives who were at risk of capture.[23]

In October 1926, MacBride sent a ciphered report from Paris to his IRA superiors about Soviet counterfeiting operations, saying, "Several bad Bank of England notes have been passed here lately. These are said to emanate from Russia."[24]

Soon after his return to Dublin in 1927, he was arrested and charged with the murder of politician Kevin O'Higgins, who had been assassinated near his home in Booterstown, County Dublin. At his trial, however, Cumann na nGaedheal politician Bryan Cooper testified as a witness for the defence that, at the time of Kevin O'Higgins' murder, both he and MacBride had been aboard a ferry travelling from Britain to Ireland. MacBride was then charged with being a subversive and interned in Mountjoy Prison.[25]

In September 1927, Krivitsky sent the IRA a message from Amsterdam, demanding to see MacBride immediately, claiming to have a "present" he was anxious to give away, and naming a cafe where the meeting could take place. As MacBride was then imprisoned in Dublin, the IRA's chief of staff, Moss Twomey, replied that the request was "rather awkward and impossible to fulfill at the present". In response, Twomey and two other senior IRA members travelled to Amsterdam and met with Krivitsky instead.[26]

In 1929 an Irish section of the League Against Imperialism was formed and MacBride served as its secretary.[27] Aimed at creating a "mass anti-imperialist movement", the organization was founded with the support of the Comintern.[28]

Towards the end of the 1920s, after many supporters had left to join Fianna Fáil, some members of the IRA started pushing for a more left-wing agenda. After the IRA Army Council voted down the idea, MacBride launched a new movement, Saor Éire ("Free Ireland"), in 1931. Although it was a non-military organisation, Saor Éire was declared unlawful along with the IRA, Cumann na mBan and nine other bodies. MacBride, meanwhile, became the security services' number-one target.[29]

In 1936, the IRA's chief of staff Moss Twomey was sent to prison for three years; he was replaced by MacBride. At the time, the movement was in a state of disarray, with conflicts between several factions and personalities. Tom Barry was appointed chief of staff to head up a military operation against the British, an action with which MacBride did not agree.[30]

In 1937, MacBride was called to the bar. He then resigned from the IRA when the Constitution of Ireland was enacted later that year. As a barrister, MacBride frequently defended IRA prisoners of the state (Thomas Hart & Patrick McGrath). MacBride was unsuccessful in preventing the 1944 death by hanging of Charlie Kerins, who had been convicted based on fingerprint evidence of the 1942 ambush and murder of Garda Detective Sergeant Denis O'Brien. In 1946, during the inquest into the death of Seán McCaughey, MacBride embarrassed the Irish State by forcing them to admit that conditions in Portlaoise Prison were inhumane.[31]

Clann na Poblachta, Minister for External Affairs

Main article: Clann na Poblachta
MacBride circa 1947 when he founded Clann na Poblachta

In 1946, MacBride founded the republican/socialist party Clann na Poblachta. 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.[32] On the same day, Patrick Kinane also won the Tipperary by-election for Clann na Poblachta.[33]

However, at the 1948 general election Clann na Poblachta won only ten seats. The party joined with Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the National Labour Party, Clann na Talmhan and several independents to form the First Inter-Party Government with Fine Gael TD John A. Costello as Taoiseach. Richard Mulcahy was the Leader of Fine Gael, but MacBride and many other Irish Republicans had never forgiven Mulcahy for his role in carrying out 77 executions under the government of the Irish Free State in the 1920s during the Irish Civil War. To gain the support of Clann na Poblachta, Mulcahy stepped aside in favour of Costello. Two Clann na Poblachta TDs joined the cabinet; MacBride became Minister for External Affairs[4] while Noël Browne became Minister for Health.

On his ministerial accession, MacBride sent a telegram to Pope Pius XII offering:

...to repose at the feet of Your Holiness the assurance of our filial loyalty and our devotion to Your August Person, as well as our firm resolve to be guided in all our work by the teaching of Christ and to strive for the attainment of a social order in Ireland based on Christian principles.[34]

At MacBride's suggestion, Costello nominated the northern Protestant Denis Ireland to Seanad Éireann,[35] the first resident of Northern Ireland to be appointed as a member of the Oireachtas. While a Senator (1948–1951), Ireland was Irish representative to the Council of Europe assisting MacBride in the leading role he was to play in securing acceptance of the European Convention on Human Rights—signed in Rome on 4 November 1950.[36] In 1950, MacBride was president of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Council of Europe, and he was vice-president of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC, later OECD) in 1948–1951. He was responsible for Ireland not joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).[37]

He was instrumental in the repeal of the External Relations Act and the passing of the Republic of Ireland Act which came into force in 1949. It declared that Ireland may officially be described as the Republic of Ireland and that the President of Ireland had the executive authority of the state in its external relations.

In 1951, MacBride controversially ordered Noël Browne to resign as a minister over the Mother and Child Scheme after it was attacked by the Irish Catholic hierarchy and the Irish medical establishment.[38][39] Whatever the merits of the scheme, or of Browne, MacBride concluded in a Cabinet memorandum:

Even if, as Catholics, we were prepared to take the responsibility of disregarding [the Hierarchy's] views, which I do not think we can do, it would be politically impossible to do so . . . We are dealing with the considered views of the leaders of the Catholic Church to which the vast majority of our people belong; these views cannot be ignored.[40]

Also in 1951, Clann na Poblachta was reduced to two seats after the general election. MacBride kept his seat and was re-elected again in 1954. Opposing the internment of IRA suspects during the Border Campaign (1956–1962), he contested both the 1957 and 1961 general elections but failed to be elected both times. He then retired from politics and continued practising as a barrister.

International roles and commissions

Seán MacBride in 1986

After retiring from politics in Ireland, McBride assumed various international commissions and roles. He was among a group of lawyers who founded JUSTICE—the UK-based human rights and law reform organisation—initially to monitor the show trials after the 1956 Budapest uprising,. Later it became the UK section of the International Commission of Jurists for which McBride, from 1963 to 1971, was Secretary-General. In 1966, his standing on the Commission was unsuccessfully challenged by US claims that he had been involved with a Central Intelligence Agency funding operation.[41]

In 1961, McBride was a co-founder of Amnesty International, and he served as its International Chairman until 1975.[42]

In 1963, he had helped draft the constitution of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU); following consultations on the constitutions of newly-independent Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania.[43]

In 1968, McBride was elected Chair and, in 1975, President of the International Peace Bureau in Geneva, one of the world's oldest international peace federations, a position he retained until 1985.[44] He was also involved in the International Prisoners of Conscience Fund and was appointed the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems in 1977.[45][1]

In the course of the 1970s, he held various positions with the United Nations.[44] In 1973, he was elected by the UN General Assembly to the post of High Commissioner for Namibia, with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General. It was thought that status he would enjoy with Apartheid regime as the son of the man who had led the Irish (the "MacBride's Brigade") to fight a alongside the Boers in their resistance to the British, was assist in negotiating South Africa's withdrawal from the territory.[43] In 1977, he was appointed president of the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, set up by UNESCO. In 1980, this produced the controversial McBride Report which called for policies to reduce the international dominance of the western media.[46]

During the 1980s, he initiated the Appeal by Lawyers against Nuclear War[47] which was jointly sponsored by the International Peace Bureau and the International Progress Organization. In close co-operation with Francis Boyle and Hans Köchler of the International Progress Organization he lobbied the General Assembly 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.

In 1982, MacBride was chairman of the International Commission to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon. The other members were Richard Falk, Kader Asmal, Brian Bercusson, Géraud de la Pradelle, and Stefan Wild. The commission's report, which concluded that "the government of Israel has committed acts of aggression contrary to international law", was published in 1983 under the title Israel in Lebanon.[48]

Nobel Peace Prize and other international honours

MacBride's work was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1974)[49] as a man who "mobilised the conscience of the world in the fight against injustice" He shared the prize with Eisaku Sato, the former Japanese Prime Minister who was acknowledged for representing the Japanese people's will for peace, and for signing the nuclear arms Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970.[50]

Other international honours followed: the Lenin Peace Prize in 1975; the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1978;[51] and the UNESCO Silver Medal for Service (1980). He received the Lenin Peace Prize for his opposition to what MacBride referred to as "this absolutely obscene arms race." He was one of only two to win both the Lenin and Nobel peace prizes, the other being Linus Pauling.[52]

Last Irish interventions

In 1977, in the midst of the Northern Ireland Troubles, McBride co-operating with Desmond Boal (QC and former chairman of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party) as joint mediator in confidential negotiations between the Provisional IRA (PIRA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force about a federal settlement for Ireland.[53] Under their auspices, West Belfast priest Des Wilson helped set up meeting between Boal and reputed PIRA commander, Gerry Adams. Inasmuch as they were "frank and constructive", Adams found the meeting useful but otherwise unproductive.[54]

In 1984, McBride was one of four well known Irish activists, two Catholic and two Protestants, who endorsed as set of fair-employment guidelines for American investment in Northern Ireland, intended to redress a history of anti-Catholic employment discrimination.[55][56] The campaign for what became known as the MacBride Principles pressed the British government to introduce fair-employment legislation, and in 1999 succeeded in Having the Principles, already adopted in numerous U.S. jurisdictions, signed into U.S. federal law by President Clinton.[57]

In Irish Republic, MacBride edited in 1981 a report of a Commission of Enquiry into the Irish Penal System. Crime and Punishment.broadly condemned the country's prisons, unreformed since independence, for failing to address the task of offender rehabilitation and consequently for its high degree of recidivism.[58]

In 1983, McBride voted yes to the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, enshrining the legal ban on abortion, and wrote a newspaper article two days before supporting his position.[59] In 1985, he supported the largely female workforce in the Dunnes Stores Strike and attended at least one of their rallies.[43]

Later life and death

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.

Seán MacBride died in Dublin on 15 January 1988, eleven days before his 84th birthday. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in a grave with his mother, and his wife, who died in 1976.

On the occasion of MacBride's death the African National Congress (ANC), Oliver Tambo stated "Seán MacBride will always be remembered for the concrete leadership he provided to the liberation movement and people of Namibia and South Africa. Driven by his own personal and political insight arising out of the cause of national freedom in Ireland ... our debt to him can never be repaid."[43]

Legacy

Streets in Windhoek, Namibia and Amsterdam are named after him.[43] The Headquarters of Amnesty International Ireland is called 'Seán MacBride House' in his honour.[60] and the International Peace Bureau likewise named the 'Seán MacBride Prize' in his name.[61]

A bust of MacBride was unveiled in Iveagh House, headquarters of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in 1995.[62]

In popular culture

A novel, The Casting of Mr O'Shaughnessy, was published in 1995 (revised edition 2002) by Éamon Delaney in which the eponymous Mr O'Shaughnessy was, in the author's own words "partly, but quite obviously, based on the career of the colourful Seán MacBride".[63]

Career summary

  • 1946–1965 Leader of Clann na Poblachta
  • 1947–1958 Member of Dáil Éireann
  • 1948–1951 Minister for External Affairs of 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 to enquire into reported violations of International Law by Israel during its invasion of the Lebanon

Further reading

  • Keane, Elizabeth (2006). An Irish Statesman and Revolutionary: The Nationalist and Internationalist Politics of Seán MacBride. Tauris.
  • Jordan, Anthony J, (1993), Seán A biography of Seán MacBride, Blackwater Press

References

  1. ^ a b "Seán MacBride | Irish statesman". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Seán MacBride". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  3. ^ Keane, Ronan. "MacBride, Seán". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b Saturday Evening Post; 23 April 1949, Vol. 221 Issue 43, pp. 31–174, 5p
  5. ^ "MacBride, (Edith) Maud Gonne | Dictionary of Irish Biography". www.dib.ie. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  6. ^ Bendheim, Kim (2021). The Fascination of What's Difficult: A Life of Maud Gonne. OR Books. ISBN 978-1682192061.
  7. ^ Warren, Gordon (24 November 2020). "Maud Gonne and the 1930s' movement for basic income in Ireland". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Boyce, David George (1 January 1988). Revolution in Ireland, 1879–1923. Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 978-1-349-18985-4.
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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Seán MacBride.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for External Affairs
1948–1951 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
New political party Leader of Clann na Poblachta
1946–1965 		Succeeded by
Party disbanded
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