Seán Ó Brádaigh (; born 1937), sometimes anglicised as Sean Brady, is an Irish republican activist. Like his brother, Ruairí, Seán joined

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 ...

at an early age. From 1958 to 1960, he edited the party newspaper, the ''

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

'', and then became the party's Director of Publicity. During the 1960s, he worked with Roy Johnston to develop the Éire Nua policy. Like his brother, Seán sided with the provisional wing in the split of 1970. He became the first editor of the party's new newspaper, '' An Phoblacht'', holding the post for two years, and also continued in his role as Director of Publicity. In 1972, he was arrested while 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 ...

, and charged with membership of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

. He immediately launched a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

, and was soon released due to a lack of evidence. In 1977, he was sent a book bomb, but was on holiday at the time, his brother staying at his house. Ruairí's suspicions led to the package being detonated by the

Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...

. Seán stood down as Director of Publicity in 1979, following a dispute with Danny Morrison over the content of the merged ''An Phoblacht'' and '' Republican News'', and from the party's Officer Board the following year. In 1986, he followed his brother into a new organisation, which accepted his proposal that it should be named Republican Sinn Féin.Robert William White, ''Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: the life and politics of an Irish revolutionary'', p.309

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OBradaigh, Sean 1937 births Irish newspaper editors Irish republicans Living people Republican Sinn Féin members Sinn Féin politicians