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Dr. Maurice Manning (born 14 June 1943) is a former Fine Gael politician in Ireland. A member of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament) for twenty-one years, he served in both the Dáil and the Seanad. Since August 2002 he has been President of the Irish Human Rights Commission.
[edit] Early life
Born in Muine Bheag, County Carlow, Dr. Manning holds a PHD in Politics from University College Dublin. An academic by background, Manning previously lectured in the politics department of University College Dublin. He is a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland, of the Governing Authority of University College Dublin and was a member of the Governing Authority of the European University Institute at Florence, Italy.
He has written several books on modern Irish politics, including a political novel, Betrayal. He is also the author of an authoritative history of the Blueshirt movement.
[edit] Political career
He was a member of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament) for twenty-one years, serving in both the Dáil and the Seanad.
Manning first stood for election in 1979, as a Fine Gael candidate for the Dublin constituency at the first European Parliament election, when he did not win a seat. He was unsuccessful again when he stood at the 1981 general election in the Dublin North East constituency,[1] but was then elected on the Cultural and Educational Panel to the 15th Seanad.[2]
At the February 1982 Dáil election, he stood again in Dublin North East, winning a seat in the 23rd Dáil Éireann. He retained his seat in November 1982, but was defeated in the 1987 general election. He stood again in Dublin North East at the 1987 and 1989 general election, and in Dublin South at the 1992 general election, but never returned to the Dáil.
After his 1987 defeat, he was elected to the 18th Seanad, again on the Cultural and Educational Panel, and was re-elected three more times until he did not contest the 2002 election to the 22nd Seanad, when Fine Gael chose not to nominate him. After the 2002 general election, Manning had initially announced his intention to stand down, but when Enda Kenny was elected as the party's new leader, Manning was persuaded to stay on. However, after the loss of 20 Dáil seats in 2002 the party's nominating committee chose to prioritise candidates who could challenge for Dáil seats at the next election, and he was not nominated. It was reported that the failure to nominate Manning may have been related to a dispute with the Fine Gael Chairman, Senator Padraic McCormack, whom Manning had threatened to challenge for the chairmanship.[3]
In the Manning was a member of the New Ireland Forum and later of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. He served as Leader of the Seanad from 1995 to 1997,[2] and as Leader of the Opposition in the Seanad from 1997 to 2002.
[edit] Human Rights Commission
By virtue of his presidency of the Irish Human Rights Commission, was elected in October 2006 for a two-year term as the Chair of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions.[4] He is a member of the International Co-Ordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions,[5] both of which are affiliated with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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