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 G ...

politician, and was the national chairperson of the party from 1984 to 1990.. Sinn Féin.

Background

MacManus was born in 1950 near Blacklion, County Cavan,

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,

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,

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 A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

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

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 Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

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 " ...

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 in February 1992.Sligo Sinn Féin man’s key role in Peace Process

References

External links

List of Mayors of SligoSeán 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

Background

Republican family

References

Further reading

External links