Seán MacBride

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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.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Clann na Poblachta 3 International politics 4 Human rights 5 Curriculum Vitae

[edit] 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 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 1936. 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'^[1]. 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.

[edit] Clann na Poblachta

Main article: 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 while Dr. Noel Browne became Minister for Health.

MacBride was Minister of External Affairs when the Council of Europe was drafting the European Convention on Human Rights. He served as President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from 1949to 1950 and is credited with being a key force in securing the acceptance of this convention, which was finally signed in Rome on 4 November 1950. In 1950 he 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 in 1948–51. He was responsible for Ireland not joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

He was instrumental in the implementation of the Repeal of the External Relations Act and the Declaration of the Republic of Ireland in 1949. On Easter Monday, 18 April 1949, the Irish Free State left the Commonwealth of Nations and became the Republic of Ireland.

MacBride controversially ordered Dr. Browne to resign as a minister over the Mother and Child Scheme after it was attacked by the Roman Catholic church and the Irish medical establishment.

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. He contested both elections in 1957 and 1961 but failed to be elected both times. He then retired from politics and continued practising as a barrister.

[edit] International politics

Seán was a founding member of Amnesty International and served as its International Chairman. He was Secretary-General of the International Committee of Jurists from 1963 to 1971 and was elected President of the International Peace Bureau. He was Vice-President of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC, later OECD) and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

He wrote the Constitution of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the first Constitution of Ghana – the first UK African Colony to achieve Independence.

Some of his appointments to the United Nations System included:

Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations

President of the UN General Assembly

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

UN High Commissioner for Namibia

President of UNESCO's International Commission for the Study of Communications Problems, which produced the controversial 1980 "MacBride Report".

He was awarded the:

Nobel Peace Prize

American Medal for Justice

Lenin Peace Prize

UNESCO Silver Medal

[edit] Human rights

Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, MacBride worked tirelessly for human rights worldwide. He took an Irish case to the European Court of Human Rights after hundreds of men 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 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 International Prisoners of Conscience Fund (trustee).

He became a founder-member of Amnesty International and was international chairman from 1961 to 1974. He campaigning vigorously against persecution, intolerance and injustice. He was also elected to serve as Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists between 1963 and 1970, during which time he created – and chaired – a joint committee for the various non-governmental organisations championing the cause of human rights. Appropriately this committee was set up in 1968: the UN International Year for Human Rights. Following this, he was also elected Chair (1968-1974) and later President (1974-1985) of the International Peace Bureau in Geneva.

In 1973 he was elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations to the post of UN Commissioner for Namibia with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations – a fitting position for one who had worked tirelessly to ensure peace and protection for peoples the world over. His father's actions, leading the Irish Transvaal Brigade (known as MacBride's Brigade) for the Boer's, against the British army, in the Boer War, gave Sean MacBride a unique access to the South African 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's work was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1974) 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 the UN 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.

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.

Seán MacBride died in Dublin on 15 January 1988, at the age of 83 (11 days before his 84th birthday). He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

[edit] 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.