The Polical Parties of Ireland - Clann na Poblachta

Clann na Poblachta ([kˠɫan̪ˠ n̪ˠə pʷɔbʷɫəxt̪ˠə] – English: Family of the Republic) was an Irish republican and social democratic political party founded by former Irish Republican Army Chief of Staff Seán MacBride in 1946.

In 1946, MacBride founded a new political party called Clann na Poblachta. The party was launched officially on 6 July 1946 in Barry's Hotel in Dublin. It held its first Ard Fheis in November 1947 in the Balalaika Ballroom.

The party appealed to disillusioned young urban voters, and republicans. Many had become alienated from Éamon de Valera's Fianna Fáil, the main republican party in Ireland but which in the view of more militant republicans had betrayed their principles during World War II by executing IRA prisoners. Clann na Poblachta also drew support from people who were tired of the old civil war politics and wanted more concern for social issues. In post-war Europe many people blamed the social evils of unemployment, poor housing, poverty and disease for the rise of fascism and communism. This new mood influenced people in Ireland also. Some people saw Clann na Poblachta as a replacement for Fianna Fáil. Others a replacement for the marginalised Sinn Féin, more a break from the traditional pro- and anti-treaty Irish Civil War division. The new party grew rapidly during 1947.

The party was influenced by social democratic policies such as United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Clement Attlee's welfare state, elements of European Christian Democracy as well as Republicanism. It attracted a diverse range of people from traditional Republicans such as Noel Hartnett and social democrats such as Dr. Noel Browne, who had been attracted to the party due to its commitment to fight Tuberculosis and Peadar Cowan, a former Labour Party executive member who had resigned in disgust due to the infighting within the Labour Party at the time.

Clann were formed at a time during a period of turmoil in Irish politics - Fianna Fáil (FF) and Fine Gael - the two major parties of the state - were weak. Fine Gael were in disarray because of their rival's seemingly hegemonic dominance and because of a perceived failure to be able offer anything to disillusioned FF supporters. FF were visibly losing support because of the failure of the party's republican programme to end mass unemployment, poverty and emigration. The Labour Party had bitterly split in 1944 over personal differences between William X. O'Brien and James Larkin while Clann na Talmhan was perceived as being too specialist and too focused on the needs of farmers.

In October 1947, Clann na Poblachta won two by-elections (in Dublin County and Tipperary). The Taoiseach, de Valera, saw the threat posed by the new party and in February 1948 he called a snap general election to try and catch Clann na Poblachta off guard. At the time Clann had, not entirely unrealistic, hopes of both replacing Fianna Fáil as the majority republican party and as the leading party of the state. de Valera's tactic was successful; Clann na Poblachta only won ten seats - far fewer than was expected. De Valera may have saved his party's dominance, but the election did produce enough seats among the opposition groups for them to be able to form a non-Fianna Fáil government, the first time in sixteen years. That First Inter-Party Government was made up of Fine Gael, Labour, National Labour, Clann na Talmhan, Clann na Poblachta, and some independents.

Clann had stood on the platform of "get them out" and so clearly a coalition with Fianna Fáil was not an option - even if the larger party would consider it. But the republicans in Clann were unwilling to serve under Fine Gael and in particular under Fine Gael's leader Richard Mulcahy who was a Free State general during the Civil War. At the suggestion of William Norton, the Labour leader, it was agreed that no party leader would be Taoiseach. Former Cumann na nGaedhael Attorney-General John A. Costello became Fine Gael's choice for Taoiseach. Labour's William Norton became Tánaiste while MacBride of Clann na Poblachta became Minister for External Affairs. Clann was an uneasy coalition of socialists and republicans and to placate the left wing, MacBride appointed Noel Browne as Minister for Health. However many of the party's republicans remained unreconciled to serving with Fine Gael and the very act of joining the government weakened the party.

As Minister for External Affairs, and a strong republican, MacBride was seen as instrumental in the repeal of the External Relations Act 1936, under which King George VI, proclaimed King of Ireland in December 1936, fulfilled the diplomatic functions of a head of state. In September 1948 Costello made the formal announcement in Canada that the government was about to declare Ireland a Republic. At Easter 1949 the Republic of Ireland came into existence, with the King's remaining functions granted instead to the President of Ireland.

MacBride regarded Ireland as a republic in any case (in much the same way as de Valera did) and saw the repeal of the Act as merely removing the last vestiges of the British connection. He was, though, deeply angry that Costello had stolen his idea and refused to attend the official ceremony marking the inauguration of the Republic of Ireland.

The Government and opposition jointly mounted what it called the Anti-Partition Campaign, arguing the opinion that partition was the only obstacle preventing a united Ireland. At foreign conferences Irish delegates stated their cause for the ending of partition. This campaign had no effect whatsoever on the unionist government in Northern Ireland.

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 1949 to 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).

As Minister for External Affairs, MacBride declined the offer of Ireland joining NATO to resist Soviet aggression. He refused because it would mean that the Republic recognised Northern Ireland. He did however state that Ireland was strongly opposed to Communism. In 1950, he offered a bi-lateral alliance to the United States but this was rejected. Ireland remained outside the military alliance. In 1949 Ireland joined the Organisation For European Economic Co-Operation and the Council of Europe as founder-members.

MacBride also argued for the "return of sterling assets" to Ireland-essentially a decoupling of the Irish pound from Pound sterling by selling British gilts and investing the money in domestic enterprise. Officials in the Irish Finance department, who had an excellent relationship with the British Treasury and thought a decoupling would isolate Ireland and discourage investment, resisted. The matter came to a head at the time of the 1949 devaluation of sterling. Despite two government meetings to discuss decoupling, it was decided to retain the sterling link - which remained until 1979.

Clann na Poblachta TD and Health Minister Browne, proved highly controversial. A medical doctor, he became famous for two policies. He spearheaded a successful anti-tuberculosis (TB) campaign. Free mass X-rays were introduced to identify TB sufferers. Sufferers were given free hospital treatment. New drugs were also introduced to fight the disease. Though Browne made a significant contribution to the campaign, it had actually originated with a Parliamentary Secretary (junior minister) in de Valera's government, Conn Ward; it was Ward's preparatory work and Browne's practical implementation that produced the acclaimed scheme that practically wiped out TB in Ireland.

Browne's second initiative was much more controversial. In 1950 Browne tried to put the parts of the Fianna Fáil Health Act into effect. This Act would give free health care to all mothers and children up to the age of sixteen regardless of income. However, the Mother and Child Scheme, as it became known, faced stiff opposition from Irish doctors and the Catholic Bishops of Ireland. Doctors opposed the deal because they feared a reduction in their incomes and they were worried about state interference between patient and doctor. The Catholic Bishops opposed the Act because it seemed a dangerously communistic idea to them. They feared it might lead to the supply of birth control and abortion. Browne met with the Bishops and thought that he had satisfied them. However his handling of the affair alienated possible supporters in the hierarchy, notably Bishop William J. Philbin, and those elements of the medical profession privately supportive of the Mother and Child Scheme. In addition his poor attendance at cabinet meetings and strained relationships with cabinet colleagues meant that they too failed to support him. On 11 April 1951 MacBride as party leader demanded Browne's resignation and he withdrew from the Cabinet. Several other Clann na Poblachta TDs followed him out of the coalition and so destroyed the fragile internal unity of the party.

In 1951 the coalition faced increasing pressure to remain afloat and so an election was called. Clann na Poblachta was reduced to just two seats. Noel Browne and Jack McQuillan, both of whom were elected as independents, supported de Valera's minority government. In 1954 another general election was called and the Second Inter-Party Government took office, again under Costello as Taoiseach. Although Clann na Poblachta agreed to give external confidence and support to the government, it did not join it.

In keeping with the republican views of many of its key supporters, Clann had throughout maintained close links with republicans in Northern Ireland who espoused similar views, accepting the 1937 Constitution and the government operating under it as legitimate in the twenty-six counties (differing from Sinn Féin on this issue) but keeping open the option of armed struggle in Northern Ireland. The most prominent link of this kind was between the Clann and Liam Kelly and his Fianna Uladh organisation, even though Kelly and the Fianna Uladh's armed wing (Saor Uladh) were engaged in a military campaign in Northern Ireland. In 1954 the Clann made Kelly's election to Seanad Éireann (courtesy of Fine Gael councillors' votes) a condition for supporting the Second Inter-Party Government. Kelly had been imprisoned at the time for making a seditious speech.

The Government's increasing firm action against the IRA, who had just launched the Border Campaign, was one of the main reasons why the Clann withdrew its support at the beginning of 1957, along with a sharp deterioration in the economy.

In the 1957 election, MacBride lost his Dáil seat and his failure to secure a seat in two subsequent by-elections ended his political career. The party contested the 1961 general election but only one candidate was elected to Dáil Éireann. John Tully for Cavan was the only Clann na Poblachta TD elected in the 1965 general election.

The party entered talks with the Labour Party about a possible merger, however these ended in failure as they could not agree on the focus of the party and whether Sinn Féin or the National Progressive Democrats could be included. At the party Ard Fheis on 10 July 1965 the party voted to dissolve itself.

The Thirteenth Dáil

This is a list of the members who were elected to the 13th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland. These TDs (Members of Parliament) were elected at the 1948 general election on 4 February 1948 and met on 18 February 1948. The 13th Dáil was dissolved by President Seán T. O'Kelly, at the request of the Taoiseach John A. Costello on 7 May 1951. The 13th Dáil lasted 1,211 days.

As of 2012, Liam Cosgrave and William J. Murphy are the only surviving members of the 13th Dáil.

The list of the 147 TDs elected, is given in alphabetical order by constituency.

Members of the 13th Dáil
Constituency	Name	Party
Carlow–Kilkenny	Patrick Crotty		Fine Gael
	Joseph Hughes		Fine Gael
	Thomas Derrig		Fianna Fáil
	James Pattison		National Labour Party
	Thomas Walsh		Fianna Fáil
Cavan	Patrick O'Reilly		Independent
	Michael Sheridan		Fianna Fáil
	Paddy Smith		Fianna Fáil
	John Tully		Clann na Poblachta
Clare	Thomas Burke		Independent
	Éamon de Valera		Fianna Fáil
	Patrick Hogan		Labour Party
	Seán O'Grady		Fianna Fáil
Cork Borough	James Hickey		National Labour Party
	Jack Lynch		Fianna Fáil
	Patrick McGrath		Fianna Fáil
	Thomas F. O'Higgins		Fine Gael
	Michael Sheehan		Independent
Cork East	Martin Corry		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Keane		Labour Party
	Patrick O'Gorman		Fine Gael
Cork North	Patrick Halliden		Clann na Talmhan
	Patrick McAuliffe		Labour Party
	Seán Moylan		Fianna Fáil
Cork South	Seán Buckley		Fianna Fáil
	Dan Desmond		Labour Party
	Patrick Lehane		Clann na Talmhan
Cork West	Seán Collins		Fine Gael
	Timothy J. Murphy		Labour Party
	Timothy O'Sullivan		Fianna Fáil
Donegal East	Neal Blaney		Fianna Fáil
	John Friel		Fianna Fáil
	Daniel McMenamin		Fine Gael
	William Sheldon		Independent
Donegal West	Brian Brady		Fianna Fáil
	Cormac Breslin		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Óg McFadden		Fine Gael
Dublin County	Patrick Burke		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Dunne		Labour Party
	Éamon Rooney		Fine Gael
Dublin North–Central	Vivion de Valera		Fianna Fáil
	Patrick McGilligan		Fine Gael
	Martin O'Sullivan		Labour Party
Dublin North–East	Jack Belton		Fine Gael
	Alfred Byrne		Independent
	Harry Colley		Fianna Fáil
	Peadar Cowan		Clann na Poblachta
	Oscar Traynor		Fianna Fáil
Dublin North–West	Cormac Breathnach		Fianna Fáil
	Alfred P. Byrne		Independent
	Mick Fitzpatrick		Clann na Poblachta
Dublin South–Central	Maurice E. Dockrell		Fine Gael
	James Larkin, Jnr		Labour Party
	Con Lehane		Clann na Poblachta
	Seán Lemass		Fianna Fáil
	John McCann		Fianna Fáil
Dublin South–East	Noël Browne		Clann na Poblachta
	John A. Costello		Fine Gael
	Seán MacEntee		Fianna Fáil
Dublin South–West	Robert Briscoe		Fianna Fáil
	Bernard Butler		Fianna Fáil
	Peadar Doyle		Fine Gael
	Seán MacBride		Clann na Poblachta
	Michael O'Higgins		Fine Gael
Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown	Seán Brady		Fianna Fáil
	Joseph Brennan		Clann na Poblachta
	Liam Cosgrave		Fine Gael
Galway North	Michael Donnellan		Clann na Talmhan
	Mark Killilea, Snr		Fianna Fáil
	Michael F. Kitt		Fianna Fáil
Galway South	Patrick Beegan		Fianna Fáil
	Frank Fahy		Ceann Comhairle
	Robert Lahiffe		Fianna Fáil
Galway West	Gerald Bartley		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Lydon		Fianna Fáil
	Joseph Mongan		Fine Gael
Kerry North	Patrick Finucane		Clann na Talmhan
	Eamonn Kissane		Fianna Fáil
	Tom McEllistrim		Fianna Fáil
	Dan Spring		National Labour Party
Kerry South	Honor Crowley		Fianna Fáil
	John Flynn		Independent
	Patrick Palmer		Fine Gael
Kildare	Thomas Harris		Fianna Fáil
	William Norton		Labour Party
	Gerard Sweetman		Fine Gael
Leix–Offaly	Patrick Boland		Fianna Fáil
	William Davin		Labour Party
	Oliver J. Flanagan		Independent
	Patrick Gorry		Fianna Fáil
	Tom O'Higgins		Fine Gael
Limerick East	Daniel Bourke		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Keyes		Labour Party
	James Reidy		Fine Gael
	Robert Ryan		Fianna Fáil
Limerick West	James Collins		Fianna Fáil
	David Madden		Fine Gael
	Donnchadh Ó Briain		Fianna Fáil
Longford–Westmeath	Thomas Carter		Fianna Fáil
	Erskine H. Childers		Fianna Fáil
	Charles Fagan		Independent
	Michael Kennedy		Fianna Fáil
	Seán Mac Eoin		Fine Gael
Louth	Frank Aiken		Fianna Fáil
	James Coburn		Fine Gael
	Roddy Connolly		Labour Party
Mayo North	Patrick Browne		Fine Gael
	James Kilroy		Fianna Fáil
	P. J. Ruttledge		Fianna Fáil
Mayo South	Joseph Blowick		Clann na Talmhan
	Bernard Commons		Clann na Talmhan
	Micheál Ó Móráin		Fianna Fáil
	Richard Walsh		Fianna Fáil
Meath	Patrick Giles		Fine Gael
	Michael Hilliard		Fianna Fáil
	Matthew O'Reilly		Fianna Fáil
Monaghan	James Dillon		Independent
	Patrick Maguire		Fianna Fáil
	Bridget Rice		Fianna Fáil
Roscommon	John Beirne, Jnr		Clann na Talmhan
	Gerald Boland		Fianna Fáil
	Jack McQuillan		Clann na Poblachta
	Daniel O'Rourke		Fianna Fáil
Sligo–Leitrim	Stephen Flynn		Fianna Fáil
	Eugene Gilbride		Fianna Fáil
	Bernard Maguire		Independent
	Mary Reynolds		Fine Gael
	Joseph Roddy		Fine Gael
Tipperary North	Patrick Kinane		Clann na Poblachta
	Daniel Morrissey		Fine Gael
	Mary Ryan		Fianna Fáil
Tipperary South	Dan Breen		Fianna Fáil
	Michael Davern		Fianna Fáil
	Richard Mulcahy		Fine Gael
	John Timoney		Clann na Poblachta
Waterford	Thomas Kyne		Labour Party
	Patrick Little		Fianna Fáil
	John Ormonde		Fianna Fáil
	Bridget Redmond		Fine Gael
Wexford	Denis Allen		Fianna Fáil
	Brendan Corish		Labour Party
	John Esmonde		Fine Gael
	John O'Leary		National Labour Party
	James Ryan		Fianna Fáil
Wicklow	Thomas Brennan		Fianna Fáil
	Patrick Cogan		Independent
	James Everett		National Labour Party

Changes

Date	Constituency		Gain		Loss	Note
7 December 1948	Donegal East		Fianna Fáil		Fianna Fáil	Neil Blaney (FF) holds the seat vacated by the death of his father Neal Blaney (FF)
15 June 1949	Cork West		Labour Party		Labour Party	William J. Murphy (Lab) holds the seat vacated by the death of Timothy J. Murphy (Lab)
16 November 1949	Donegal West		Fine Gael		Fianna Fáil	Patrick O'Donnell (FG) wins the seat vacated by the death of Brian Brady (FF)

Northern Ireland Housing Trust (NIHT)

According to an abstract from Cain Abstracts, the NIHT was established in 1945 with a remit to build public sector housing 'for workers' in co-ordination with local authorities. The Trust was established to try to boast house building but ran into deliberate obstruction by a number of Unionist controlled local authorities. These authorities were worried about the impact of new housing, and thus new voters, in marginal constituencies. There is evidence that the NIHT favoured 'careful' tenants who were in employment a combination which left the Trust open to some accusations of discrimination against Catholics. The responsibilities of the NIHT were taken over by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive in October 1971.

12 July 2012

According to Boston.com,

BELFAST, Northern Ireland—Irish Catholic militants attacked riot police Thursday in a divided corner of Belfast as the most polarizing day on Northern Ireland's calendar reached a typically ugly end -- and yet managed, amid the smoke and chaos, to take a few tentative steps toward compromise.

Many hours of violence in the hardline Catholic Ardoyne district marked the fourth straight year that the area has descended into anarchy following the annual passage of Protestant marchers from the Orange Order brotherhood.

Massive Orange parades across Northern Ireland each July 12 -- an official holiday that commemorates the Protestant side's victory in 17th-century religious warfare -- often stoke conflict with Catholics, who despise the annual marches as a Protestant show of superiority.

But in recent years, as British authorities have restricted the Protestants' march routes, a drab stretch of road that passes a row of Ardoyne shops has become the focal point for province-wide animosity. There, the decades-old battle for supremacy between the British Protestant majority and Irish Catholic minority wages a yearly test of wills, with heavily armored police stuck in the middle.

A British government-appointed Parades Commission sought to defuse the Ardoyne conflict this year by ordering the Orangemen to march along Crumlin Road by 4 p.m. local time, three hours sooner than normal. Protestant leaders grudgingly accepted the deadline rather than mount a later standoff, and all sides agreed this gesture kept a bad situation from turning even worse.

The Parades Commission and police also permitted Ardoyne residents for the first time to stage their own march on the road a few hours later in a bid to balance competing rights. Protracted violence by masked Ardoyne youths followed that second gesture.

As the rioting headed toward midnight, police said nine officers had been wounded and two rioters arrested. They said rioters had hijacked and burned three cars and were tossing occasional Molotov cocktails at police lines. Officers responded by firing a half-dozen plastic bullets, blunt-nosed cylinders designed to knock down the target without penetrating the skin.

The sectarian showdown on Crumlin Road demonstrated how, despite a two-decade peace process and five years of a joint Catholic-Protestant government, Northern Ireland at grass-roots level still faces a long, uncertain journey to achieve reconciliation.

Indeed, Protestant officials of the unity government took part in the Orange parade, while some of their Catholic counterparts stood with the Ardoyne protesters. And yet both sides' leaders said the dispute would do nothing to derail their continued cooperation the rest of the year.

Orangemen, unable to reach Ardoyne on foot by the Parades Commission's 4 p.m. deadline, considered standing their ground with police in a bid to force their march through in the evening. Their leaders insisted they had to defend their right to freedom of assembly, fearing that once banned from a particular stretch of road they would never be permitted to return.

But aware that a standoff would inevitably end in violent clashes between Protestants and police, Orange leaders decided to observe the deadline and compromise -- while still maintaining a symbolic claim to the road.

They sent a token group of two dozen members by bus to march along that short stretch of road past the Ardoyne shops. Police girded in flame-retardant boiler suits, helmets, shatter-proof visors and shields flanked the tiny Orange procession as several hundred Protestants, many waving Union Jacks, cheered the scene from one side of the thoroughfare.

On the other side, masked Catholic youths were already stockpiling makeshift weapons for the night's fight ahead. Denied a decent Orange provocation, the Irish side appeared hell-bent on confronting the police regardless.

Several youths smashed their way into a parked silver BMW, pushed it toward police lines and set it on fire. A police armored car rammed the vehicle into a sidewalk, then a mobile water cannon doused the flames and turned its jets on the growing crowd of rioters.

Soon the Ardoyne crowd, fueled by militants from other hardline Catholic parts of Belfast, swelled to more than 1,000 on two narrow side streets.

In a bid to defuse the tensions, police permitted the Catholic Ardoyne residents to stage their own march on Crumlin Road -- even though the unruly procession passed dangerously close to an angry crowd of a few hundred Protestants. The Catholics bore a banner at the front that read "Ardoyne residents have rights too."

Both sides traded vulgar verbal abuse. Masked, hooded youths within the much larger Catholic group tossed bottles and stones at the Protestants, who retaliated in kind. Soon salvos of bricks, golf balls and even planks of wood were flying back and forth over the helmeted heads of the police, who saturated the area to ensure that the two sides could not get within punching distance of the other.

Before the confrontation, Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party, said the crux of the problem was the Orangemen's longstanding refusal to negotiate directly with anti-Orange groups from Catholic districts.

"The Orange (Order) should have their day, but the people in the host community have a right to be talked to," Adams said.

Commentators agree that the Orange Order's boycott on direct contact with the enemy appears anachronistic given that Northern Ireland's government is led chiefly by Orangemen and Sinn Fein, who do talk and work together.

But the Ardoyne conflict also defies easy resolution because of the tight confines of Belfast geography.

The starting point and final destination for the local Orangemen marching Thursday was their lodge, and Crumlin Road is the only direct link between it and the day's main Orange parade. That means any Orange march in the area must pass the Ardoyne shops.

Members of the Twelfth Dáil - John Ormonde

John Ormonde (15 September 1905 – 25 June 1981) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at a by-election in 1947 as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for Waterford. In 1957, he joined the cabinet of Éamon de Valera as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

He served in government until 1959 and retired from the Dáil in 1965 when he lost his seat in the general election. He was elected to the Labour Panel at the 1965 election to the 11th Seanad.

Members of the Twelfth Dáil - Patrick Kinane

Patrick Kinane (3 July 1892 – 15 July 1957) was an Irish politician of the Clann na Poblachta party, who was twice elected to Dáil Éireann.

Originally a farmer, he was first elected to the 12th Dáil at a by-election on 29 October 1947 in the Tipperary constituency, following the death of the sitting Clann na Talmhan Teachta Dála (TD), William O'Donnell. Clann na Poblachta party leader Sean MacBride, who was elected on the same day in a by-election in the Dublin County constituency.

Kinane was re-elected in the 1948 general election for the new Tipperary North constituency, but lost his seat in the 1951 general election.

Members of the Twelfth Dáil - Seán MacBride

Seán MacBride

Seán MacBride (26 January 1904 – 15 January 1988) was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA.

Rising from a domestic Irish political career, he founded or participated in many international as well as 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 Lenin Peace Prize for 1975–76, and the UNESCO Silver Medal for Service in 1980.

MacBride was born in Paris in 1904, the son of Major John MacBride and Maud Gonne. His first language was French and he remained in Paris until after his father's execution after the Easter Rising of 1916. He was sent to school 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 Irish War of Independence. 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 studied law at University College Dublin and resumed his IRA activities. He worked for Éamon de Valera for a short time as his personal secretary; early in 1925 they travelled to Rome together to meet various dignitaries.

On MacBride's twenty-first birthday, in January 1925, he married Kid Bulfin, a stylish woman four years older, who shared his political views. He worked as a journalist in Paris and London before returning to Dublin in 1927, when he became Director of Intelligence of the IRA. In 1927, Kevin O'Higgins was assassinated near his home in Booterstown, County Dublin. There was a huge round-up of IRA members, including MacBride, who was charged with the murder. However, he could prove that he was on his way back to Ireland at the time; he was able to call Bryan Cooper, whom he met on the boat, as a witness. However, he was still charged with being a subversive and interned in Mountjoy Prison.

Towards the end of the 1920s, some members of the IRA started pushing for a left-wing agenda, after most supporters had left to join Fianna Fáil. After the IRA Army Council voted down the idea, MacBride launched a new movement, Saor Éire ("An Organisation of Workers and Working Farmers") in Dublin 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, while MacBride became public enemy number one of the State security services.

In 1936, the Chief of staff of the IRA, Moss Twomey was sent to prison for three years, and MacBride became chief of staff, at a time when the movement was in a state of disarray, with several factions and personalities conflicting. Tom Barry was appointed chief of staff to head up a military operation against the British, which MacBride did not agree with. He was called to the bar in 1937.

He resigned from the IRA when the Constitution of Ireland was enacted later that year. As a barrister, he frequently defended IRA political prisoners. He was unsuccessful in stopping the 1944 execution of Charlie Kerins who was convicted of killing Garda Detective Dennis O'Brien in 1942. In 1946, during the inquest into the death of Seán McCaughey, MacBride embarrassed the authorities by forcing them to admit that the conditions in Portlaoise prison were inhumane.

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. On the same day, Patrick Kinane also won the Tipperary by-election for Clann na Poblachta.

However, at the 1948 general election, Clann na Poblachta won only ten seats. The party joined with Fine Gael, Labour Party, National Labour Party, Clann na Talmhan and 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. In order 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, while 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 1949 to 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 state left the Commonwealth of Nations and became known as the Republic of Ireland.

In 1951, MacBride controversially ordered Noel 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. Whatever the merits of the scheme, or of Dr. 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."

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 (1956–62), 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. He expressed an interest in running as an independent candidate for the 1983 Irish presidential election, but he did not receive sufficient backing and ultimately did not contest.

MacBride 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.

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 (OEEC, later OECD) and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

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.

Some of MacBride's appointments to the United Nations System included:

• Assistant Secretary-General
• President of the General Assembly
• High Commissioner for Refugees
• High Commissioner for Human Rights
• High Commissioner for Namibia
• President of UNESCO's International Commission for the Study of Communications Problems, which produced the controversial 1980 MacBride Report.

 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 suspected 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 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 Prisoners of Conscience Appeal Fund (trustee).

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 (known as MacBride's Brigade) for the Boers against the British Army, in the Boer War, gave Seán 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'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 Lenin Peace Prize (1975–76) and the UNESCO Silver Medal for Service (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 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 under the title Israel in Lebanon.

He proposed a plan in 1984, known as the MacBride Principles, which he argued would eliminate discrimination against Roman 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.

^{Career Summarized:}

• 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