Biography – Seán English

Seán English

Seán English was born in Mountrath, County Laois, Ireland on 27 April 1950. He was educated at Belvedere College, a Jesuit run school in Dublin. After leaving Belvedere he went into his family pub business. He returned to further education as a mature student and graduated from the New University of Ulster with a BA in the History of Resource Management (1979), a new cross-disciplinary course connecting environmental sciences to the management of human exploitation. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a Master’s Degree (MSc) (1983) from the Department of Human Geography. His PhD (‘Developments in the Philosophy of Peace in the Twentieth Century: An Analysis’) was completed in Saor-Ollscoil Na hÉireann (The Free University of Ireland) (1997). He did further studies in the area of Peace Studies and Peace Research in the department of Peace Studies in the Irish School of Ecumenics and in the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

Seán became involved in sailing with Les Glénans, the French-based sailing organisation, and in the establishment of their bases in Ireland. He sailed on the Irish Team at the International 420 class World Championship in Kiel in Germany (1974). He was volunteer crew on the Asgard II, the Irish Sail Training Yacht, on a number of occasions over the years. He qualified as Yachtmaster Instructure (RYA, 1984). He was a director and partner in the Dolphin Offshore Sailing Group based in Howth, County Dublin.

For many years, Seán has been involved in a number of Peace and Environmental organisations and movements. He was chairperson of the Amnesty International branch in Trinity College Dublin where he had the privilege of working with Seán McBride (Nobel and Lenin Peace Prize Laureate). He was an active supporter of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (Irish CND) and was a member of the National Executive for a number of years.

He was a founding member of the Irish Peace Council (IPC), which was established in 1986 as part of the United Nations International Year of Peace programme. The Irish Peace Council was an umbrella organisation working on behalf of over twenty Irish Peace groups. Seán was part of the delegation that was nominated by the IPC to meet with representatives of Sinn Féin to try to identify the parameters for establishing the peace process. He was also an active supporter of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation in its early formation. Over the years, the work carried out at the Glencree Centre has contributed to a number of peace negotiations both in the context of the Northern Ireland conflict and other international conflicts.

Seán was a candidate for the Irish Green Party (Comhaontas Glas) in the European Elections of 1989. He was elected as a member of Kildare County Council and Naas Urban District Council (1991). He was involved in a number of legal challenges on environmental issues. The Save Glending campaign was taken to the High Court and the Friends of the Curragh Environment case was taken to the Supreme Court.

He established and coordinated the Study of Peace programme at Saor-Ollscoil Na hÉireann (The Free University of Ireland) over a twenty-year period. He became academic director of the Saor-Ollscoil and was academic director of the college for a five year period. He organised the ‘Visions of Peace’ conference (2000) as part of UNESCO’s Decade for Culture of Peace Programme (2000–2010). He was director of the Visions of Peace Centre which was established out of this conference. The centre was attached to Saor-Ollscoil Na hÉireann.

Seán has been convenor of the Peace Theories Commission of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA).
He was a member of the International Philosophers for Peace (IPPO).
He was the Irish delegate to the World Constitution and Parliament Association (WCPA).

He is active in a number of peace organisations including: