1981 : IRA'S BOBBY SANDS DIES:
On May 5, 1981, imprisoned Irish-Catholic militant Bobby Sands dies
after refusing food for 66 days in protest of his treatment as a
criminal rather than a political prisoner by British authorities. His
death immediately touched off widespread rioting in Belfast, as young
Irish-Catholic militants clashed with police and British Army patrols
and started fires.
Bobby Sands was born into a Catholic family in a Protestant area of
Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1954. In 1972, sectarian violence forced
his family to move to public housing in a Catholic area, where Sands
was recruited by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The
Provisional IRA, formed in 1969 after a break with the Official IRA,
advocated violence and terrorism as a means of winning independence
for Northern Ireland from Britain. (The Provisional IRA, the dominant
branch, is generally referred to as simply the IRA.) After
independence, according to the IRA, Northern Ireland would be united
with the Republic of Ireland in a socialist Irish republic. In 1972,
Sands was arrested and convicted of taking part in several IRA
robberies. Because he was convicted for IRA activities, he was given
"special category status" and sent to a prison that was more akin to a
prisoner of war camp because it allowed freedom of dress and freedom
of movement within the prison grounds. He spent four years there.
After less than a year back on the streets, Sands was arrested in 1977
for gun possession near the scene of an IRA bombing and sentenced to
14 years in prison. Because the British government had enacted a
policy of "criminalization" of Irish terrorists in 1976, Sands was
imprisoned as a dangerous criminal in the Maze Prison south of
Belfast. During the next few years, from his cell in the Maze, he
joined other imprisoned IRA terrorists in protests demanding
restoration of the freedoms they had previously enjoyed under special
category status. In 1980, a hunger strike lasted 53 days before it was
called off when one of the protesters fell into a coma. In response,
the British government offered a few concessions to the prisoners, but
they failed to deliver all they had promised and protests resumed.
Sands did not take a direct part in the 1980 strike, but he acted as
the IRA-appointed leader and spokesperson of the protesting prisoners.
On March 1, 1981--the fifth anniversary of the British policy of
criminalization--Bobby Sands launched a new hunger strike. He took
only water and salt, and his weight dropped from 155 pounds to 95
pounds. After two weeks, another protester joined the strike, and six
days after that, two more. On April 9, in the midst of the strike,
Sands was elected to a vacant seat in the British Parliament from
Fermanagh and South Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Parliament
subsequently introduced legislation to disqualify convicts serving
prison sentences for eligibility for Parliament. His election and
fears of violence after his death drew international attention to
Sands' protest. In the final week of his life, Pope John Paul II sent
a personal envoy to urge Sands to give up the strike. He refused. On
May 3, he fell into a coma, and in the early morning of May 5 he died.
Fighting raged for days in Belfast, and tens of thousands attended his
funeral on May 7.
After Sands' death, the hunger strike continued, and nine more men
perished before it was called off on October 3, 1981, under pressure
from Catholic Church leaders and the prisoners' families. In the
aftermath of the strike, the administration of British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher agreed to give in to several of the protesters'
demands, including the right to wear civilian clothing and the right
to receive mail and visits. Prisoners were also allowed to move more
freely and no longer were subject to harsh penalties for refusing
prison work. Official recognition of their political status, however,
was not granted.
history.com/tdih.do
1821 : Napoleon dies in exile
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4974
1862 : Cinco de Mayo
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4975
1961 : The first American in space
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4977
##########################################
after refusing food for 66 days in protest of his treatment as a
criminal rather than a political prisoner by British authorities. His
death immediately touched off widespread rioting in Belfast, as young
Irish-Catholic militants clashed with police and British Army patrols
and started fires.
Bobby Sands was born into a Catholic family in a Protestant area of
Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1954. In 1972, sectarian violence forced
his family to move to public housing in a Catholic area, where Sands
was recruited by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The
Provisional IRA, formed in 1969 after a break with the Official IRA,
advocated violence and terrorism as a means of winning independence
for Northern Ireland from Britain. (The Provisional IRA, the dominant
branch, is generally referred to as simply the IRA.) After
independence, according to the IRA, Northern Ireland would be united
with the Republic of Ireland in a socialist Irish republic. In 1972,
Sands was arrested and convicted of taking part in several IRA
robberies. Because he was convicted for IRA activities, he was given
"special category status" and sent to a prison that was more akin to a
prisoner of war camp because it allowed freedom of dress and freedom
of movement within the prison grounds. He spent four years there.
After less than a year back on the streets, Sands was arrested in 1977
for gun possession near the scene of an IRA bombing and sentenced to
14 years in prison. Because the British government had enacted a
policy of "criminalization" of Irish terrorists in 1976, Sands was
imprisoned as a dangerous criminal in the Maze Prison south of
Belfast. During the next few years, from his cell in the Maze, he
joined other imprisoned IRA terrorists in protests demanding
restoration of the freedoms they had previously enjoyed under special
category status. In 1980, a hunger strike lasted 53 days before it was
called off when one of the protesters fell into a coma. In response,
the British government offered a few concessions to the prisoners, but
they failed to deliver all they had promised and protests resumed.
Sands did not take a direct part in the 1980 strike, but he acted as
the IRA-appointed leader and spokesperson of the protesting prisoners.
On March 1, 1981--the fifth anniversary of the British policy of
criminalization--Bobby Sands launched a new hunger strike. He took
only water and salt, and his weight dropped from 155 pounds to 95
pounds. After two weeks, another protester joined the strike, and six
days after that, two more. On April 9, in the midst of the strike,
Sands was elected to a vacant seat in the British Parliament from
Fermanagh and South Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Parliament
subsequently introduced legislation to disqualify convicts serving
prison sentences for eligibility for Parliament. His election and
fears of violence after his death drew international attention to
Sands' protest. In the final week of his life, Pope John Paul II sent
a personal envoy to urge Sands to give up the strike. He refused. On
May 3, he fell into a coma, and in the early morning of May 5 he died.
Fighting raged for days in Belfast, and tens of thousands attended his
funeral on May 7.
After Sands' death, the hunger strike continued, and nine more men
perished before it was called off on October 3, 1981, under pressure
from Catholic Church leaders and the prisoners' families. In the
aftermath of the strike, the administration of British Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher agreed to give in to several of the protesters'
demands, including the right to wear civilian clothing and the right
to receive mail and visits. Prisoners were also allowed to move more
freely and no longer were subject to harsh penalties for refusing
prison work. Official recognition of their political status, however,
was not granted.
history.com/tdih.do
1821 : Napoleon dies in exile
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4974
1862 : Cinco de Mayo
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4975
1961 : The first American in space
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4977
##########################################
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