For almost forty years, Fermanagh native Fr Sean McManus has been at the heart of the Irish American campaign against injustice in Northern Ireland. This is his personal account of how he mainstreamed Northern Ireland on Capitol Hill, after Church and State exiled him from Britain in 1972 to silence him on the issue. He founded the Irish National Caucus in 1974, 'the driving force that would diminish Britain's influence with the US government'. He forced through Congressional action to stop the sale of US weapons to the RUC and made the MacBride Principles on fair employment a powerful force. And all this time he was opposed not only by the London and Dublin governments but also - and ironically and inexplicably - by elements in the Republican Movement. Fr McManus also chronicles the events and social context that influenced him, growing up in Kinawley, a parish divided by the Border, in a large patriotic family. He gives thoughtful insights into seminary life in the 1960s, and how his faith, theology and philosophy of non-violence developed.
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'The man who has been helping to craft the agenda for Irish America over the past 30 years has written a compelling inside view of the pursuit of peace and justice for Ireland' -- Irish Voice
About the Author
Sean McManus is a brother of Frank McManus, former MP, and Patrick McManus, an IRA member killed in 1958. In 1971, a Redemptorist priest based in Scotland, he was arrested in Northern Ireland during an anti-internment demonstration. His superiors sent him to the United States in 1972 where he founded the Irish National Caucus in 1974, a Washington D.C.-based Irish-American lobby group.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
13 reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Significant Memoir and History of Modern Irish Nationalism in America
May 10 2011
By PeteR
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Using primary sources this book chronicles the work of the Irish National Caucus in Washington D.C. during the height of the war in Northern Ireland in 1970, to the present. Of particular interest is the documentary evidence that Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick Moynihan (D-NY), Congressman Thomas P. O'Neill (D-MA), and NY Gov. Hugh Carey, did everything they could at the behest of the Irish Government to thwart Irish-Americans in their pursuit of equality and fair employment for their compatriots back in Northern Ireland.
Thousands of lives might have been saved if these "Four Horseman" had had the courage to stand up to the British and Irish governments in the advancement of justice in Ireland. Fr. Sean McManus provides proof that it was American elected representatives of various backgrounds, Italian, Jewish, African-American, Mormon, and others that ultimately brought the fair employment MacBride Principles into US law in spite of those big four so-called Irishman. This book is a fascinating account of events by the man who created the first modern Irish lobbying organization on Capital Hill and beat the British and Irish governments at their own game.
Thousands of lives might have been saved if these "Four Horseman" had had the courage to stand up to the British and Irish governments in the advancement of justice in Ireland. Fr. Sean McManus provides proof that it was American elected representatives of various backgrounds, Italian, Jewish, African-American, Mormon, and others that ultimately brought the fair employment MacBride Principles into US law in spite of those big four so-called Irishman. This book is a fascinating account of events by the man who created the first modern Irish lobbying organization on Capital Hill and beat the British and Irish governments at their own game.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
One-Man Lobby
Oct 12 2011
By penman
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
When the history of Irish-American engagement in bringing the Troubles in Northern Ireland to a just resolution is written, it will have to weigh the persistent and fearless efforts of a remarkable man, Fr. Sean McManus. His account of how the Irish National Caucus worked for decades to shape Irish-American opinion and persuade the U.S. Congress to face up to the real issues is an important part of that story.
Political lobbying is a major industry in Washington D.C. Every interest group maintains an office here to see that it is not left out in the cold. This is an expensive business. It would have cost millions to do what he has achieved all by himself, and on a shoestring.
This account shows how he did it: with a single-minded passion for justice, offering a political alternative to violence.
My only reservation is that its author does not set forth with sufficient clarity--as he is evidently able--what in the experience of growing up in County Fermanagh moved him so.
We can go elsewhere for that.
But only here will you find the story of how an outsider became a Washington insider. And not for promotion or self-promotion, but to promote a just peace in Northern Ireland.
Political lobbying is a major industry in Washington D.C. Every interest group maintains an office here to see that it is not left out in the cold. This is an expensive business. It would have cost millions to do what he has achieved all by himself, and on a shoestring.
This account shows how he did it: with a single-minded passion for justice, offering a political alternative to violence.
My only reservation is that its author does not set forth with sufficient clarity--as he is evidently able--what in the experience of growing up in County Fermanagh moved him so.
We can go elsewhere for that.
But only here will you find the story of how an outsider became a Washington insider. And not for promotion or self-promotion, but to promote a just peace in Northern Ireland.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Memoir-Writing at Its Very Best!
Oct 1 2011
By William Hughes
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Father Sean McManus's tome literally covers the waterfront! When needed, it draws the last four decades of struggle in the U.S. for justice in Northern Ireland with a broad brush. Mostly, however, it gets into the ring and gives you a blow-by-blow account of this remarkable priest's compelling career on Capitol Hill in the service of a better future for the peoples of Northern Ireland. It's Memoir-writing at its very best!
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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