My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland [Third Us Edition 2019] - Paperback

by Sean MC Manus (Author)

The 2023 Re-Print updates the 2019 Edition. My American Struggle for Justice in Northern Ireland (Third US Edition, 2019). This 2019 Third US Edition considerably expands on the Second US Edition of 2014-just as the latter expanded the First US Edition of 2012. (The book was first published in Ireland in 2011 by Collins Press, Cork). This Edition brings Fr. Mc Manus' historic struggle right up to 2019. It is larger in dimension (6x9), whereas the 2014 Second Edition was smaller in dimension (5x7.5). Furthermore, this Edition adds an extra 125 (larger) pages and 41 additional photos. Continues the compelling narrative of Fr. Sean Mc Manus' long struggle for Irish justice ... How he prevailed against all odds ... How he refused to be silent in the face of injustice ... And how he "kept Congress on track regarding justice and peace in Ireland." As one reviewer has said, "It makes one want to stand up and cheer." It is a story of grace, faith, and courage; of devotion and determination, persistence and perseverance ... Always firm and resolute...But without bitterness or rancor and with a forgiving heart. As he himself says, "Fight like hell for justice, but always forgive like Heaven. "For almost 50 years, Fermanagh native Fr. Mc Manus has been at the heart of the Irish-American campaign against British injustice in Northern Ireland. No one has ever done what he has done: moving to Capitol Hill to exclusively lobby for justice and peace in Ireland, and for doing that for so many years without interruption. As the Sunday World says, "Some political observers in America say he was light years ahead of his time when he set up the Irish National Caucus to fight for justice and rights for [Catholics] back home in Northern Ireland."This is his personal account of how he mainstreamed the Northern Ireland issue on Capitol Hill after Church and State exiled him from Britain in 1972 to silence him on the issue. He founded the Irish National Caucus in 1974, "the driving force that would diminish Britain's influence with the U.S. government." He forced through Congressional action to stop the sale of US weapons to the RUC and made the Mac Bride Principles on fair employment a powerful force. And all this time he was opposed not only by the London and Dublin governments but also - and ironically and inexplicably - by elements in the Irish Republican Movement. Fr. Mc Manus also chronicles the events and social context that influenced him growing up in a large patriotic family in the parish of Kinawley, County Fermanagh-a parish divided by the British-imposed Border that cruelly partitions Ireland. Fr. McManus gives thoughtful insights into Seminary life in England in the 1960s, and how his faith, theology, and philosophy of justice and nonviolence developed. He expounds clearly and faithfully Catholic Social Teaching, which Catholic scholars have called "the best-kept secret of the Catholic Church." Fr. Mc Manus-unlike many Catholic Bishops in the US, Britain, and Ireland-fearlessly applies that teaching to Ireland, as he speaks truth to power and as he exposes how the powerful in Church and State covered up injustice and oppression in his native country. As a reviewer says, the Memoir's "authenticity is the book's crowning glory."The book also describes Fr. McManus' increasing work since 2013 as Chief Judge of the World Peace Prize, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and his solidarity work with the AFL-CIO-because, as he likes to quote, "peace is the fruit of solidarity." (St. Pope John Paul II).