SEAN MACBRIDE

Sean MacBride was the son of a martyr in the Irish struggle for freedom and was active in the anti-colonial movement from the 1920s. He attended the World Congress against Imperialism in Brussels in 1927. - and served as political commissar of the Irish Republican Army for many years.

 He was Foreign Minister of Ireland in 1948 when Ireland left the British Commonwealth.He took a special interest in South Africa, as his father had fought on the Boer side in the South Africa War of 1899-1902. But he detested apartheid.

As Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists and Chairman of Amnesty International from the 1960s, he took many initiatives to denounce repression in South Africa and assist members of the liberation movement persecuted by the racist regime.

He was a sponsor of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement. He was the United Nations Commissioner for Namibia in the 1970s. He was also President of the International Peace Bureau in Geneva.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in defense of human rights and peace.