The tactic of the hunger strike has a special place in Republican history and has proved very emotive for Nationalists in Ireland throughout the 20th century. The impact that could be achieved on world opinion was clear in 1920 when Terence MacSwiney, then Lord Mayor of Cork, died in Brixton Prison, London, on day 74 of his hunger strike. A passage from a speech he had made at his inauguration as Lord Mayor was to be recalled during the 1981 hunger strike: "It is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most who will conquer".
Just how much impact the 1981 strike was having on the Nationalist population of Ireland became clear when Bobby Sands was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) during a by-election for the Fermanagh / South Tyrone seat and two other hunger strikers were elected as Teachta Dáil (TDs) in a general election in the Republic of Ireland.
The hunger strike ended on 3 October 1981 when those Republican prisoners who had still been refusing food decided to end their hunger strike. At this stage in the protest six prisoners were on hunger strike. The main reason for the ending of the strike was the realisation that each of the families of the strikers would ask for medical intervention whenever the strikers lapsed into unconsciousness. On 6 October 1981 James Prior, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced a series of measures which went a long way to meeting many aspects of the prisoners' five demands.
The hunger strike of 1981 had very important and far-reaching consequences for Northern Ireland and proved to be one of the key turning points of 'the Troubles'. The Republican movement had achieved a huge propaganda victory over the British government and had obtained a lot of international sympathy. Active and tacit support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) increased in Nationalist areas. Political support for Sinn Féin (SF) was demonstrated in two by-elections (and the general election in the Republic of Ireland) and eventually led to the emergence of SF as a significant political force in Northern Ireland. The British government's fear that SF would overtake the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) as the main representative of the Catholic population of Northern Ireland was a key reason for the government signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) on 15 November 1985.
Derry broke into turmoil
It soon became evident however that the Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher and the British Government, having secured the ending of the first strike and a potentially explosive situation were more interested in a political victory over the prisoners, and republicans as a whole, than an honourable resolution of the protest.
Subsequently despite intense efforts by Bobby Sands and the other republican leaders, both inside and outside the H-Blocks to avoid it, the prisoners were left politically, with no alternative than to proceed with another hungerstrike.
The second hungerstrike began on 1st March 1981 and was led by Bobby Sands.Unlike the previous strike volunteers would be joining in different stages, thus slowly maximising pressure on the British government.This staggered approach would also avoid a repeat situation where a number of volunteers might die at the same time.The prisoners thinking being, that two or three hungerstrikers dying at once would have no more effect on the Brits than a single death.Another tactical move came the day after the beginning of the fast when the four hundred and twenty five non-conforming prisoners in the H-Blocks called off their dirty protest, thus centralising public and media attention on the plight of the volunteers on hungerstrike.
Another I.R.A prisoner, Francis Hughes, 27, from the village of Bellaghy joined the fast on 15th March.He was later followed by I.R.A volunteer Raymond Mc Creesh, 24, from South Armagh and Patsy O'Hara, 24, from Derry City the officer commanding the I.N.L.A prisoners in the Blocks.They joined their comrades in refusing food on 22nd march.
An opportunity to dispel the myth that these men were mere gangsters and part of a criminal conspiracy arose when a special election was called for after the death of Independent Nationalist M.P for Fermanagh/South Tyrone, Frank Maguire.It was quickly decided that Bobby Sands should run for this seat on the issue of the H-Blocks unaligned to any political party.
He died as he had lived, an Irish freedom fighter who would rather die than see the cause, for which he ultimately payed the supreme sacrifice, be criminalised.One hundred thousand people turned out for Bobby's funeral from his terraced home in Twinbrook, West Belfast.Proportionally, on a population basis, it was as though two million people had marched through London.Sympathy messages flowed in from all corners of the globe condemning the British governments position and paying tribute to the courage and selflessness of Bobby Sand's martyrdom.Serious rioting broke out all over the six counties with many people losing their lives.The British , true to form,still didn't take heed.
Sadly nine more young Irishmen followed Bobby Sand's footsteps into martyrdom before the hungerstrike came to an end.Nine more coffins were followed through the narrow streets and country lanes of the six-counties.Nine more families were left broken hearted, after watching their loved ones die a slow and agonising death because of Britains point blank refusal to give them their five just demands, their rights as political prisoners of war.
Francis Hughes died a week after Bobby Sands on 12th May.Patsy O'Hara and Raymond Mc Creesh both died on 21st May.Joe McDonnell died on July 8th.Martin Hurson died July 13th.Kevin Lynch died August 1st.Kieran Doherty died August 2nd.Thomas McIlwee died August 8th and Mickey Devine died August 20th.
The hungerstrike came to an end on 3rd October 1981 after 217 days due to the fact that the Catholic Church, the Dublin government and the S.D.L.P(Social Democratic Labour Party) had all consistently refused to side with the prisoners and found it more politically beneficial to capitulate to the British Government.Thus insufficient pressure was brought to bear on the British by the Irish establishment and it was evident that Margaret Thatcher was quite happy to sit back and watch the entire Republican population of the H-Blocks starve to death.Also by this stage, because of pressure brought upon the families by the Catholic Church, the prisoner's families had begun to take the prisoners of the fast once they had lapsed into a coma, as was their right.So it looked as though the hungerstrike was on the verge of collapse anyway, when the prisoners released their statement on Octobers 3rd declaring that the hungerstrike was over.
