Seán MacManus (Irish politician)
Encyclopedia
Seán MacManus is an Irish
Sinn Féin
politician.
, County Cavan
, Ireland
and moved to London in the 1960s to find work. There he met and married Helen McGovern, a native of Glenfarne
, County Leitrim
. In 1976, he returned to Ireland and settled in the Maugheraboy area of Sligo town
, County Sligo so that their family of two boys could be educated in Ireland.
Still based in Maugheraboy, MacManus has been involved in Irish Republican politics since the early 1970s and was secretary of the County Sligo Anti-H-Block Committee which campaigned in support of the republican prisoners hunger strikes of 1980/81. He became a member of the Sinn Féin Ard Comhairle (National Executive) in 1982 and remained there for over twenty years. MacManus was elected as the first Sinn Féin National Chairperson from 1984 until 1990. After the IRA ceasefire in 1994 MacManus was part of the first Sinn Féin delegation to meet with the British government in over seventy years. He was also involved in the protracted negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement.
First elected to Sligo Corporation (now Sligo Borough Council) in 1994 he has remained there to date. He was also elected to Sligo County Council in 1999 were he still serves.
In 2000, MacManus became Mayor of Sligo, the first Sinn Féin
Mayor in the Republic of Ireland
since the beginning of The Troubles
in 1969. He was also elected Mayor in 2003.
volunteer who died on active service in an operation against a UDR
squad in Belleek, County Fermanagh
in February 1992.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
politician.
Background
MacManus was born in 1950 near BlacklionBlacklion
Blacklion is a border village in west County Cavan, Ireland. It is situated on the N16 national primary road, just across the border from the County Fermanagh village of Belcoo.- History :The village is within the townland of Tuam...
, County Cavan
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and moved to London in the 1960s to find work. There he met and married Helen McGovern, a native of Glenfarne
Glenfarne
Glenfarne is a small village located in the north of County Leitrim, Ireland. It is the site of the original "Ballroom of Romance", which inspired a short story by William Trevor and was subsequently turned into a movie by the BBC...
, County Leitrim
County Leitrim
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...
. In 1976, he returned to Ireland and settled in the Maugheraboy area of Sligo town
Sligo
Sligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
, County Sligo so that their family of two boys could be educated in Ireland.
Still based in Maugheraboy, MacManus has been involved in Irish Republican politics since the early 1970s and was secretary of the County Sligo Anti-H-Block Committee which campaigned in support of the republican prisoners hunger strikes of 1980/81. He became a member of the Sinn Féin Ard Comhairle (National Executive) in 1982 and remained there for over twenty years. MacManus was elected as the first Sinn Féin National Chairperson from 1984 until 1990. After the IRA ceasefire in 1994 MacManus was part of the first Sinn Féin delegation to meet with the British government in over seventy years. He was also involved in the protracted negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement.
First elected to Sligo Corporation (now Sligo Borough Council) in 1994 he has remained there to date. He was also elected to Sligo County Council in 1999 were he still serves.
In 2000, MacManus became Mayor of Sligo, the first Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
Mayor in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
since the beginning of The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
in 1969. He was also elected Mayor in 2003.
Republican family
MacManus has two sons. Chris MacManus, the youngest, is also an elected member of Sligo Borough Council as well as having served several years on Sinn Féin's National Executive. His eldest son, Joseph MacManus, was an IRAProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
volunteer who died on active service in an operation against a UDR
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
squad in Belleek, County Fermanagh
Belleek, County Fermanagh
Belleek is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. While the greater part of the village lies within County Fermanagh, part of it crosses the border into County Donegal, a part of Ulster that lies in the Republic of Ireland. This makes Belleek the western-most village in the United Kingdom...
in February 1992.
Further reading
- Brian Feeney, Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years (2003) HB: ISBN 0299186709 PB ISBN 0299186741
External links
- List of Mayors of Sligo
- Seán MacManus' electoral history (ElectionsIreland.org)]
- Sligo Sinn Féin official website