1981 Irish Hunger Strike

The 1981 Irish Hunger Strike was a campaign by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland for the British government to grant them political status. It was a seminal event in modern Irish history. It radicalised nationalist politics, and was the midwife to Sinn Féin as a serious political force, which ultimately led to it overtaking the SDLP as the main nationalist party in Northern Ireland.

Second Hunger Strike

After a few weeks it emerged that the British government were simply intending to give the prisoners the right to wear civilian-style clothing supplied by the prison, and had duped the hunger-strikers in the belief that no new hunger-strike would occur. On March 1, 1981, under the new IRA Officer Commanding in Long Kesh, Bobby Sands, a second hunger strike began, with Sands himself the first to refuse food. The political atmosphere outside the prisons became electric, all over Ireland, with widespread rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland.

Related Topics:
March 1 - 1981 - Bobby Sands - Ireland - Nationalist - Northern Ireland

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Shortly after the beginning of the strike, the independent Irish republican MP for Fermanagh & South Tyrone died and precipitated a high profile by-election. Sands was nominated as an Anti H-Block candidate, and was elected to the House of Commons on April 9, 1981 with 30,492 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West.

Related Topics:
Fermanagh & South Tyrone - A high profile by-election - Anti H-Block - House of Commons - April 9 - 1981 - Ulster Unionist Party - Harry West

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Three weeks later, Sands died from starvation in the prison hospital. The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. Over 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral.

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Over the summer, nine more hunger strikers also died. The names of these people, their paramiltary affiliation, hometown, dates of death, and length of hunger strike are as follows:

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• Bobby Sands, IRA, Belfast (Twinbrook), 5 May, 66 days
• Francis Hughes, IRA, Bellaghy, 12 May, 59 days
• Patsy O?Hara, INLA, Derry, 21 May, 61 days
• Raymond McCreesh, IRA, Camlough, 21 May, 61 days
• Joe McDonnell, IRA, Belfast (Lenadoon), 8 July, 61 days
• Martin Hurson, IRA, Cappagh, 13 July, 46 days
• Kevin Lynch, INLA, Dungiven, 1 Aug, 71 days
• Kieran Doherty, IRA, Belfast (Andersonstown), 2 Aug, 73 days
• Thomas McElwee, IRA, Bellaghy, 8 Aug, 62 days
• Michael Devine, INLA, Derry, 20 Aug, 60 days

A number of protesting prisoners contested the general election in the Republic of Ireland in June. Paddy Agnew (who was not on hunger strike) and Kieran Doherty were elected in Louth and Cavan/Monaghan respectively, and Joe McDonnell narrowly missed election in Sligo/Leitrim. There were also local elections in the six counties around that time and although Sinn Féin did not contest them, some smaller groups who did support the hunger strikers had a few successes, e.g. a joint campaign by the Irish Republican Socialist Party (the INLA's political wing) and People's Democracy (a Trotskyist group) won four seats on Belfast City Council.

Related Topics:
Republic of Ireland - Paddy Agnew - Louth - Cavan - Monaghan - Sligo - Leitrim - Six counties - Irish Republican Socialist Party - INLA - Trotskyist - Belfast

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The British parliament rushed through emergency legislation to prevent another prisoner contesting the second by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, which was due to take place following the death of Sands. This by-election was won in August by Owen Carron, who had been Sands' election agent, standing as the prisoner's proxy candidate, with an increased vote.

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In late summer, the hunger strike began to break, thanks in large part due to the actions of the radical Catholic priest, Fr. Dennis Faul, who intervened with hunger strikers' families after they had lost consciousness to urge them to give consent to the prison authorities for their relatives to be fed by drip. The first prisoner whose family intervened was Paddy Quinn. After this happened with a number of other prisoners, on 3 October, 1981, the IRA and INLA called off the hunger strike.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Dennis Faul - 3 October - 1981

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