Sean MacBride, who died on 15 January, 1988 aged 83, was destined for a life of political campaigning since leaving France and heading to Ireland during a time of great social change.

He had a significant voice within the domestic political situation in Ireland but was to achieve great things on a more international scale.

Mr MacBride spent a lifetime championing universal causes such as human rights and nuclear proliferation.

His achievements included helping to found Amnesty International and picking up a Nobel Peace Prize.

Sean MacBride was born in Paris on 26 January 1904, where he remained until his father was executed following the 1916 Easter Rising.

He developed a passion for political struggle from his parents and, after moving to Ireland, joined the Irish Volunteers at the age of 15, before becoming Chief of Staff at the IRA when still only 24.

In 1946 Mr Macbride founded Clann na Pobachta, a republican/socialist party but never achieved the level of domestic political success he desired and returned to working as a barrister in 1961.

But it was in the international political scene that Mr MacBride was to secure his most important achievements.

He was a tireless human rights campaigner. He was a founding member of Amnesty International, served as Secretary-General of the International Committee of Jurists from 1963 to 1971 and was elected President of the International Peace Bureau .

He was recognised for his work within the humanitarian field and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in in 1974 as a man who “mobilised the conscience of the world in a fight against injustice.”

The Nobel Prize was not his only recognition however. He also received the American Medal for Justice, the Lenin Peace Prize and UNESCO’s Silver Medal.

He continued to campaign on issues of domestic and global relevance until he died at the age of 83 in 1988.

Few political figures of the twentieth century can claim to have been as passionately involved with such a diverse range of issues as Sean MacBride.

Another thing that differentiates Mr MacBride is the fact that he truly made a difference. Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize goes part way to recognising this but it is Amnesty International’s continued work that will serve as his greatest legacy.

And this is the thing that would have been most important to him. He was not only about ideas but also about action, being involved as a barrister as well as an activist.

His message is as relevant now as it ever was: “The right of an individual to refuse to kill, to torture, or to participate in the preparation for the nuclear destruction of humanity seems to me to be fundamental.”