Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter One The Origin of the MacBride Principles
- Chapter Two MacBride and the Campaign after the Publication of the Principles
- Chapter Three MacBride and the British Government
- Chapter Four MacBride and the Irish Government
- Chapter Five MacBride and the British Labour Party
- Chapter Six MacBride, the SDLP and Sinn Féin
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter Four - MacBride and the Irish Government
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter One The Origin of the MacBride Principles
- Chapter Two MacBride and the Campaign after the Publication of the Principles
- Chapter Three MacBride and the British Government
- Chapter Four MacBride and the Irish Government
- Chapter Five MacBride and the British Labour Party
- Chapter Six MacBride, the SDLP and Sinn Féin
- Conclusion
- Appendices
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
If John Hume was against them, so were we.
(Garrett FitzGerald)I want to avail myself of this opportunity to state that I fully endorse the MacBride Principles. I welcome the efforts and initiative of concerned Americans who wish to see something done about chronic discriminatory patterns in employment in Northern Ireland.
(Charles J. Haughey)The publication of the MacBride Principles immediately created difficulties for the Irish government. The spirit of the Principles presented no problem. Some Irish politicians might have drafted them differently, but their actual purpose – to put an end to the exercise of religious discrimination in employment practices by US-owned firms operating in Northern Ireland – no Irish government could repudiate, even if it did not actively endorse and support their implementation. This dilemma caused the British to be suspicious of the Irish government's motives.
It is no use relying on our Irish colleagues to act as our stalking-horse. They have, indeed, been active, and enjoy much more ready access than we. But their attitude to the MacBride Principles is somewhat equivocal and this has led to some misunderstanding, if not misrepresentation of the Irish government's policy on the issue. Certainly they take the view that it is better not to attack the MacBride principles as such, but rather to try to shift legislators away from disinvestment towards an encouragement of MacBride as a general concept. […]
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- Information
- The Macbride PrinciplesIrish America Strikes Back, pp. 129 - 164Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2009