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The MacBride Principles As Passed by the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress in March 1996 and passed again by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Clinton in October 1998, as part of Public Law 105-277

Ben Gilman (R-NY), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, is the author of this legislation. Without his determined leadership, the MacBride Principles would never have become law. Fr. Sean McManus, President of the Irish National Caucus, worked with Congressman Gilman at every step of the way.  This Act mandates that "United States contributions [to the International Fund for Ireland] should be used in a manner that effectively increases employment opportunities in communities with rates of unemployment higher than the local or urban average of unemployment in Northern Ireland. In addition, such contributions should be used to benefit individuals residing in such communities." This Act also mandates that money from U.S. contributions to the International Fund for Ireland "should be provided to individuals or entities in Northern Ireland which employ practices consistent with the principles of economic justice [the MacBride Principles]", outlined below:  Increasing the representation of individuals, from underrepresented religious groups in the workforce, including managerial, supervisory, administrative, clerical, and technical jobs. Providing adequate security for the protection of minority employees at the workplace. Banning provocative sectarian or political emblems from the workplace. Providing that all job openings be advertised publicly and providing that special recruitment efforts be made to attract applicants from underrepresented religious groups. Providing that layoff, recall, and termination procedures do not favor a particular religious group. Abolishing job reservations, apprenticeship restrictions, and differential employment criteria which discriminate on the basis of religion. Providing for the development of training programs that will prepare substantial numbers of minority employees for skilled jobs, including the expansion of existing programs and the creation of new programs to train, upgrade, and improve the skills of minority employees. Establishing procedures to assess, identify, and actively recruit minority employees with the potential for further advancement. Providing for the appointment of a senior management staff member to be responsible for the employment efforts of the entity and, within a reasonable period of time, the implementation of the principles . . " Congressman Gilman, Senator Hank Brown (R-CO) and Father McManus worked together to produce a provision stating that "nothing included herein shall require quotas or reverse discrimination or mandate their use." (This provision made the legislation acceptable to the Senate leaders of the House-Senate Conference in 1996. Yet it is nothing more than what the Caucus has always said since we launched the MacBride Principles in November 1984.)