California backs MacBride
The State Senate of California approved the MacBride Principles on Fair
Employment on Thursday, 20 May. The bill would require the retirement
systems of California, which have huge amounts of money invested in
companies that do business in the Six Counties, to annually investigate if
these companies were in compliance with the MacBride Principles. The
California Constitution allows the legislature to stop such investments if
it so decides. The bill now goes before the State Assembly, where it is
also expected to be successful.
The MacBride Principles were previously approved by both California houses
only to be vetoed by previous governors, but the newly elected governor,
Gray davis, is on record as suporting the Principles and is expected to
sign them into law.
In another development, Father Seán McManus, president of the
Washington-based Irish National Caucus, has claimed that a British
intelligence agent used his embassy job to oppose the MacBride Principles.
The man accused by Fr McManus is one of 150 alleged MI5 agents said to have
been identified on the Internet by former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson. The
Irish-American human rights activist said that the man had been involved in
directing a campaign against the MacBride Principles in the U.S.
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