The career of Sean McBride

During the Presidential Election much was made of the reputed activities of one of the candidates over the past 40 years.
Those asking questions were sometimes told to learn their history and names such like Richard Mulcahy and Frank Aiken were trotted out. These men undoubtedly were militarily active but it was pre-1923. After the end of the Civil War and the foundation of Fianna Fáil, only one senior member of the IRA made the move from subversive activity to politics in this state – Sean McBride who became Chief of Staff in 1936.
McBride, son of Maud Gonne and Major John McBride, was born in Paris in 1904. His father was a veteran of the Boer War and was executed after the Easter Rising, while his mother took the anti-treaty side in the Civil War.
McBride received his early education in Wexford, was active in the War of Independence, opposed the treaty and was interned. On his release he worked as a journalist in Paris and London before returning to Dublin, where he studied law and resumed his IRA activities.
In the round-up of IRA members which followed the murder of Kevin O’Higgins, McBride was charged with his murder even though he could prove that he was in Paris at the time. He was convicted with being a member of an unlawful organisation and interned in Mountjoy.
When many supporters left the IRA to join Fianna Fáil, some members began arguing for a more left-wing approach to politics. To this end, McBride was involved in forming Saor Éire but this organisation was also banned. He continued his legal work and was called to the Bar in 1937, at which stage he resigned his involvement with the IRA. From then on he opened an entirely new path to his career.
In 1946 he founded Clann na Poblachta, a republican socialist party. They appealed to voters concerned with social issues and to republicans disillusioned with the execution of IRA members during the war.
They won two by-elections and DeValera called a sudden election. The Clann won 10 seats – much less than expected. Fine Gael led an inter-party government to get Fianna Fáil out of office and McBride became Minister for External Affairs.
John A Costello became Taoiseach when McBride refused to accept the Fine Gael leader, Mulcahy. Following the trauma of the Mother and Child Scheme, McBride looked for the resignation of Noel Browne and in the subsequent election, the Clann only won two seats.
He retired from active politics in 1961 and for the remainder of his life worked for human rights worldwide.
A founder member of Amnesty International, he was chairman for many years, vice-president of the OECD and drafted the constitution for the Organisation of African Unity. Within the UN he was assistant secretary general, held a number of Commissionerships and was president of UNESCO.
His contribution to world affairs was recognised when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974, the Lenin Peace Prize the following year and the UNESCO silver medal for service in 1980.
In his later years he lived in his mother’s former home, Roebuck House in Dublin where he died on January 15, 1988 – 24 years ago this week.