Seán MacManus is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
politician, and was the national chairperson of the party from 1984 to 1990.
[. Sinn Féin.]
Background
MacManus was born in 1950 near
Blacklion
Blacklion (; also ''An Leargaidh'') 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 tow ...
,
County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is base ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and moved to London in the 1960s to find work. There he met and married Helen McGovern, a native of
Glenfarne
Glenfarne or Glenfarn () is a small village in north 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. Glenfarne has ...
,
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...
. In 1976, he returned to Ireland and settled in the Maugheraboy area of
Sligo town
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the largest urban cen ...
,
County Sligo
County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...
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
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
.
First elected to Sligo Corporation (now Sligo Borough Council) in 1994 he has remained until its abolition in May 2014. He was also elected to
Sligo County Council
Sligo County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Shligigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Sligo, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...
in 1999 and was re-elected in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He stepped down from elected politics in February 2017 been replaced by his son Chris MacManus.
In 2000, MacManus became Mayor of Sligo, the first
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
Mayor in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
since the beginning of
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
in 1969. He was also elected mayor in 2003.
Republican family
MacManus has two sons.
Chris MacManus
Chris MacManus (born 13 March 1973) is an Irish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the Midlands–North-West constituency since March 2020. He is a member of Sinn Féin, part of The Left in the Eu ...
, the youngest, was also an elected member of Sligo Borough Council (1999–2014) and Sligo County Council (2017–2020); and is an MEP since March 2020. His eldest son,
Joseph MacManus, was an
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
volunteer who was killed in a firefight against an off-duty
UDR soldier in
Belleek, County Fermanagh
Belleek (Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 182. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a village and civil parish in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. While the greater part of the village lies within County Fermanagh, part of it ...
in February 1992.
Sligo Sinn Féin man’s key role in Peace Process
References
Further reading
* Brian Feeney, ''Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years'' (2003) HB: PB
External links
List of Mayors of Sligo
Seán MacManus' electoral history (ElectionsIreland.org)
Sligo Sinn Féin official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmanus, Sean
1950 births
Living people
Mayors of places in the Republic of Ireland
People from Sligo (town)
Politicians from County Sligo
Politicians from County Cavan
Local councillors in County Sligo
Sinn Féin politicians