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Hunger Strikes Remembered

Tom McElwee dies

Doherty & Lynch die , Thousand protest in NYC 'mock royal wedding 

Doherty & Lynch near death, as negotiations falter and Dublin riot

Mcdonnell & Hurson Die

Massive Irish American demonstrations

Joe McDonnell 50 days on Hunger strike - status of other strikers poor

Michael Devine joins hunger strike & Hunger striker family members arrive in New York

Two Republican prisoners elected and relatives of hunger strikers visit

Irish Republican prisoners contest free state elections as thousands protest across America

Ray McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara die May 21st , 1981

Francis Hughes – Dies  May 12 1981

Bobby Sands dead

Sands Victory

New Jersey Indoor Rally

The birth of a republican - Bobby Sands

Sands stands for election

Two more strikers named

Rallies in support for the hunger strikers begin:

Bobby Sands  (1954 - 1981)

First Hunger Striker -- Bobby Sands

Between 1917 and 1981 , 22 Irish Republican POW’s died on hunger-strike.

Thomas Ashe, Kerry, 5 days, 25 September 1917

force fed by tube , died as a result).
Terrence MacSwiney, Cork, 74 days, 25 October 1920.
Michael Fitzgerald, Cork, 67 days, 17 October 1920.
Joseph Murphy, Cork, 76 days , 25 October 1920 .
Joe Witty, Wexford , 2 September 1923.
Dennis Barry, Cork, 34 days, 20 November 1923.
Andy O Sullivan , Cork, 40 days, 22 November 1923.
Tony Darcy, Galway, 52 days, 16 April 1940.
Jack ‘Sean’ McNeela, Mayo, 55 days, 19 April 1940.
Sean McCaughey, Tyrone ,22 days, 11 May 1946                    (hunger and thirst Strike).
Michael Gaughan, Mayo , 64 days, 3 June 1974.
Frank Stagg, Mayo , 62 days, 12 February 1976.
Bobby Sands, Belfast , 66 days, 5 May 1981.
Frank Hughes , Bellaghy (Derry) , 59 days, 12 May 1981.
Raymond McCreesh , So. Armagh , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Patsy O Hara , Derry , 61 days, 21 May 1981.
Joe McDonnell , Belfast , 61 days, 8 July 1981.
Martin Hurson , Tyrone , 46 days, 13 July 1981.
Kevin Lynch, Dungiven (Derry) ,71 days, 1 August 1981.
Kieran Doherty , Belfast , 73 days, 2 August 1981.
Tom McIlwee , Bellaghy (Derry) , 62 days, 8 August 1981.
Micky Devine , Derry , 60 days, 20 August 1981.

The hunger strike is part of a very ancient Irish tradition, although it seems that James Connolly was the first to use it in 1913 as tool of political protest in 20th century Ireland. From 20 September 1917, Irish internees used the hunger strike as a means of trying to secure their rights from an implacable enemy. Thomas Ashe, former principal of Corduff National School,was the first to die after an attempted force-feeding.

Fasting as a means of asserting one’s rights when faced with no other means of obtaining redress is something that has been embedded in Irish culture from ancient times. Even when the ancient Irish law system, the Laws of th Fénechus, which we popularly called the Brehon Laws from the word breitheamh, a judge, were first codified in AD 438, the law relating to the troscad, or hunger strike, was ancient.

The hunger striker gave notice of their intent and, according to the law tract Di Chetharslicht Athgabhála, if the person who is being fasted against does not come to arbitration, and actually allows the protester to die, then the moral judgement went against them and they endured shame and contempt until they made recompense to the family of the dead person. If they failed to make such amends, they were not only damned by society but damned in the next world. They were held to be without honour and without morality. The ancient Irish texts are full of examples of people fasting to assert their rights and shame powerful enemies into accepting their moral obligations. St Patrick is recorded to have done so according to the Tripartite Life of St Patrick. And, in the Life of St Ailbe, we found St Lugid and St Salchin, carrying out ritual fasts to protest.

 Even King Conall Dearg of Connacht fasted when he found his rights infringed. And the entire population of Leinster fasted against St Colmcille when he rode roughshod over their rights. The poet Mairgen mac Amalgado mac Mael Ruain of the Deisi fasted against another poet Finguine over an act of perceived injustice. The troscad continued in Irish law throughout the centuries until the English conquests proscribed the native law system and foisted English law on Ireland through a series of Acts between 1587 and 1613. Nevertheless, individual fasts against the cruelties of the English colonial administration are recorded several times over the subsequent years…

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The hunger strikes 1917- 1920

BY --- Patrick  McGlynn

Of those who died on hunger-strike between the Easter Rising 1916 and the Treaty of 1921, Thomas Ashe and Terence MacSwiney are by far the best known. In the first two parts of this five-part series, Patrick McGlynn detailed the events surrounding their deaths and this week, in part three, covers the deaths of two other IRA Volunteers who died during the same hunger-strike as Mac Swiney. That hunger-strike, in fact, was the longest ever hunger-strike without force-feeding.

This article also records the deaths of four other Volunteers who died during those years as a direct result of having taken part in prison fasts. The final two parts of the series will cover the IRA hunger-strikers who died in Free State jails in the twenties and the forties, and the two who died in English jails in the seventies. The many parallels between today's hunger-strikers and those of previous campaigns clearly show the historical precedent of the current life-or-death struggle in the H-Blocks against the attempted criminalization of the republican war effort.

 There were three years between the death of Thomas Ashe in September 1917 and the deaths on hunger-strike of Terence MacSwiney, Michael Fitzgerald and Joseph Murphy, in October 1920. However, during the intervening years there were several hunger- strikes by republican prisoners in jails in Ireland and Britain. The prisoners who had been on hunger- strike with Thomas Ashe in Mountjoy jail in Dublin were granted political status after his death. But, at Christmas 1917, they were moved to Dundalk jail where they found that all the rights won in Mountjoy were taken away and the attempt to criminalize them commenced once again. Early in 1918, Austin Stack and the other political prisoners in Dundalk jail again resorted to hunger-strike to regain the rights which Ashe had won, and they were quickly joined in their action by the IRA prisoners in Cork jail.
 

Terence MacSwiney, who was to die on hunger-strike in October 1920, was in Cork jail at that time and warned his comrades to take the protest seriously. 'This may be a fight to the death' he told them, "and we must stick to it as long as possible." The British authorities were extremely nervous, fearing the consequences of another death like that of Ashe. Five or six days into the fast, one of the Cork prisoners collapsed. The prison doctor, in panic, recommended the prisoners be immediately released. They were all served with notices to return within a month. But the notices, of course, were ignored. As a result of the hunger-strike in Cork — although it was of short duration — the health of one of the prisoners, Seamus Courtney, Passage West,  (O/C Fianna Eireann, Cork)  , was ruined and he later died on July 1921 .   The funeral of hunger-striker Michael Fitzgerald in Cork, October 1920 22nd 1918 and was buried in Passage West. Of the Dundalk prisoners, who also were all released around the same time, Aidan Gleeson, of Liverpool, entered the Mater hospital in Dublin where he died, as a result of the hunger-strike, shortly after his release.

 By 1920, the Black and Tan War was at its height and more and more IRA men were imprisoned. On April 5th 1920, sixty republican prisoners again resorted to the ultimate weapon of hunger-strike in support of their demand to be treated as prisoners-of- war. Night and day, large and anxious crowds. gathered outside the jail and alternated between saying prayers and singing rebel songs. It was not yet popularly realized in. Ireland that a hunger-striker could survive for several weeks. Parents of the hunger-strikers were given special visits by the authorities, who hoped that they would persuade the young men to take food. But instead,  the relatives gave added support to the prisoners.

 After seven days of the hunger-strike, on April 12th, a general strike was called in Dublin by the Irish Labour Party and the trade unions in support of the prisoners. The strike was totally effective. On April 14th, on the third day of the general strike and the tenth day of the hunger-strike, the authorities gave way and announced that the prisoners would be released unconditionally. This took place on April 20th. However, as a result of the hunger-strike, Patrick Fogarty of Clontarf, Dublin, had died in hospital on April 18th, and was buried in Glasnevin cemetery. And, a month after the end of the hunger-strike, on May 14th, another released prisoner, Francis Gleeson, of Fairview in Dublin, died in the Mater hospital from the after-effects of the hunger-strike. On August 11th 1920 another hunger- strike began in Cork jail, when sixty IRA prisoners began a fast in support of their demand for political status. It was this hunger-strike which Terence MacSwiney joined, on his arrest the following day; and MacSwiney died in Brixton prison, to where he had been deported. Two other IRA Volunteers, Michael Fitzgerald and Joseph Murphy, died on the same hunger-strike in Cork jail.
 

Michael Fitzgerald, from Fermoy in County Cork, joined the Volunteers in 1914 and was appointed O/C of the Cork Second Command's Fourth Battalion. Following a raid on an RIC barracks at Araglen, on Easter Sunday 1919, Fitzgerald was captured and sentenced to two months' imprisonment, all of which he spent in solitary confinement. After his release he again, became active in the IRA. On September 7th 1919, he and many other Volunteers were rounded up after an attack on British troops in Fermoy, in which one of the enemy was killed.  Fitzgerald was charged with murder, but no jury could be empaneled to try the case, so that it was continually put back while he remained in custody. On August 11th of the following year, Michael Fitzgerald began the hunger- strike in Cork jail with the other prisoners. During the weeks that followed, the British released or transferred many of the hunger-strikers until only eleven were left of the original sixty. During September and October, as the hunger-strikers deteriorated, crowds gathered daily outside the jail to pray and sing hymns. World attention, however, was focused on Terence MacSwiney's lonely struggle in Brixton prison.

  For sixty-seven days, Michael Fitzgerald endured the agonies of hunger-strike until he died on Sunday 17th October 1920. On the Monday night, Fitzgerald's comrades transferred his remains to the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Cork city, where a Requiem Mass was said the following day. As the Mass was ending, British troops saturated the area around the church and, with steel helmets and bayonets fixed, forced their way to the altar by climbing over the seats. An officer, with gun drawn, handed the priest a notice stating that the authorities would only allow a limited number of people to follow the funeral. In spite of this intimidation, thousands of people followed the cortege on its way to Fermoy. And, the!. £o| lowing day, Wednesday, mass' crowds gathered, despite British roadblocks and searches, tor another Requiem Mass and the burial in Kilcrumper cemetery. Late the same evening IRA Volunteers returned to fire a farewell volley over their comrade's grave.

On the following Monday, October 25th, a few hours after the death of Terence MacSwiney, another of the Cork prisoners, Joseph Murphy, died on his seventy-sixth day on hunger-strike. His body, accompanied by IRA Volunteers and members of Cumann na mBan, was brought through his native Cork city to the Church of the Immaculate Conception. The following day, after Requiem Mass, the funeral took place to St Finbarr's cemetery. It has been suggested, with some authority, that the reason for the protracted length of this hunger-strike (in which force-feeding was not used) was because the prison authorities had secretly introduced some nourishment, mainly in the form of egg white, into the prisoners' drinking water, and by this means they had hoped to extend their own chances of breaking the prisoners' resolve. In the event, it was some days after Murphy's death before some concessions were made and the remaining nine Cork prisoners ended their hunger-strike on the advice of the acting-president of the Irish Republic, Arthur Griffith.

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Hunger strike deaths in Free State jails 1920s to 1940s

Patrick McGlynn

 The end of the- Civil War came in May 1923 with the order on the Republican side to dump arms. Nevertheless, thousands of republican prisoners, men and women, were held for several months afterwards in the most atrocious conditions in Free State prisons and internment camps — most of them had not been brought to trial. In fact, it was over a year later before the last of the internees were released. There had been a short hunger-strike In Tintown concentration camp at the Curragh as early as June 1923, and It was as a result of this that Daniel Downey of Dundalk, County Louth, died on June 10th. Although the hunger-strike had ended before he died, the short fast, together with the brutal beatings and general Ill-treatment meted out to the prisoners, proved to be fatal.

 The major hunger-strike of the period, however, came In October 1923, by which time the republican prisoners had become very impatient for release from conditions which had become almost unendurable. This hunger-strike was started by more than four hundred prisoners in Mountjoy, ten of them TDs, and it quickly spread men and women prisoners in other jails and internment camps. There were massive protests outside the prisons in support of the prisoners. On November 20th, Commandant Dennis Barry, from Blackrock, County Cork, died on hunger-strike in Newbridge Camp, County Kildare. Two days later, Captain Andrew Sullivan of Mallow, County Cork, died after forty days without food in Mountjoy. On November 23rd, the hundreds of prisoners still on hunger-strike ended their protest. Soon afterwards all the women prisoners and a number of the men were released. Conditions for those remaining were improved to some extent. Many of those on the hunger-strike had their health irreparably damaged by the fast and many suffered afterwards by taking food again without any medical supervision. One prisoner, in particular, Joseph Lacey of Blackwater, County Waterford, continued to decline after the end of the hunger-strike, and died a month later on Christmas Eve 1923.

 Hunger-striking had claimed another victim that year, John Oliver, one of those who had taken part in the Connaught Rangers' mutiny in India in 1920. He, with others, had gone on hunger strike In Maidstone prison in England in 1922. They were brutally treated during the course of the protest and forcibly fed in a particularly torturous manner. After their hunger-strike the Maidstone prisoners wore released, but John Oliver, totally debilitated by his experience, contracted TB and died the following year.

It was almost twenty years before a hunger-strike was to claim the life of another republican prisoner in a Free State jail, and by this time it was a Fianna Fail government that was in office. The proscribing of the IRA by the Fianna Fail government in 1939, soon led to Free State jails filling once again with republican prisoners in the 20s. The funeral cortege of IRA Volunteer Sean McCaughey (Inset), passing along Dublin's O'Connell Street In 1946 In Mountjoy, conditions were appalling and the republican prisoners were constantly agitating for recognition as political prisoners. It was eventually decided to begin a hunger-strike to this end, the main demand being for free association.

On February 25th 1940, Tony D'Arcy, Sean McNeela, Thomas Grogan, Jack Plunkett, Tomas MacCurtain and Michael Traynor all refused food and began to hunger-strike. On March 1st, the republican prisoners, including the hunger-strikers, were savagely beaten by warders, backed up by Special Branch men, when they attempted to prevent McNeela and Plunkett being removed to face trial before the military court. In the event, McNeela was sentenced to two years and Plunkett to eighteen months, on a charge of 'conspiring to usurp a function of government' by operating a 'private' radio transmitter. (Sean McNeela had been the IRA's Director of Publicity.)

 On March 5th, Tony D'Arcy and Michael Traynor were sentenced to three months' imprisonment for refusing to answer questions. They had been arrested with others following a swoop on the Meath Hotel in Dublin where a meeting of IRA O/Cs from around the country was taking place, After being sentenced the four were transferred to Arbour Hill and on March 27th were moved to St. Brian's hospital next to the prison. They were joined there on April 1st by Tomas MacCurtain and Thomas Grogan, both of whom were still awaiting trial. (MacCurtain was charged with the shooting dead of a Special Branch man, and Grogan with taking part in the Magazine Fort raid - in which the IRA scooped almost all the Free State army's ammunition, in 1939). On April 16th 1940, after forty-two days on hunger-strike, Tony D'Arcy died. His last words were 'Jack, Jack, Jack McNeela, I'm dying.' And McNeela, leaving his bed to go to his dying comrade, collapsed on the floor. Tony D'Arcy had completed two months of his three-month sentence when he died. Three days later, on April 19th, after fifty- five days on hunger-strike, Sean McNeela died. The hunger-strike ended that night when the prisoners were informed that their demands had been met. In fact, those concessions that were made were very short-, lived. Many of the prisoners on short sentences were interned after completion of their sentences, and those awaiting trial were given savage sentences.

 With the Second World War in progress at the time, the Free State premier Eamonn de Valera, had ample excuse for imposing draconian censorship and the compliant press drew little attention* to the deaths of republicans at the hands of Fianna Fail. Tony D'Arcy, who left a wife, two sons and baby daughter, was buried in his native Headford in County Galway, and Sean McNeela's remains were taken to Ballycroy in County Mayo. On January 21st 1942, another republican life was claimed as a result of a hunger- strike when Belfast IRA Volunteer Joseph Malone died after an operation on his stomach. Malone was in jail in England for his part in the 1939 bombing campaign and had been ill and in constant pain since taking part in a hunger-strike the previous year. His. remains were brought home to Belfast where he was given a hero's funeral in Milltown cemetery.

 The last hunger-striker to die in a Free State jail is also often remembered as a Belfastman. But, in fact, Sean McCaughey, who died on May 11th 1946, spent the first five years of his life in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, before the family moved to Belfast in 1921. Sean McCaughey joined the IRA while still in his teens in 1934, and at the same time was closely involved in Gaelic League and GAA activities. In 1938, he was on the Belfast IRA Staff, and in 1940, after a six-month spell imprisoned in the Free State, became O/C of the IRA's Northern Command. A year later he was Adjutant-General of the IRA when the then Chief-of-Staff, Stephen Hayes, was held by the IRA as an informer. McCaughey was arrested in Dublin, charged with 'common assault and the unlawful imprisonment' of Hayes, and sentenced to death by a Free State military tribunal in September 1941. This sentence was commuted to penal servitude for life. During the forties, republican prisoners in the Curragh internment camp. Arbour Hill and Mountjoy, were allowed to wear their own clothes. But those transferred to* .Portlaoise were expected to wear prison uniform, which they refused to do. McCaughey was transferred to Portlaoise from the condemned cell at Mountjoy and joined the other prisoners in refusing to wear prison clothes. He spent the next four and three- quarter years naked except for a prison blanket.

  From September 1941, until the summer of 1943, McCaughey and his comrades were kept in complete solitary confinement." The cell on each side of them were kept vacant to ensure no communication, and they were not allowed to leave their cells, even to use the lavatory. After some considerable outside pressure, deValera conceded minor concessions, in 1943, by allowing one hour's exercise, morning and afternoon on weekdays, one newspaper each week, and one letter in and out per month. Attempts, often brutal, were still made to force the prisoners to wear prison uniform. General prison conditions continued to be atrocious; and, in fact, it was  only a few. days before Sean McCaughey's death that he was allowed his first visitor. McCaughey began his hunger-strike on April 19th 1946. Five days later he intensified it by going on thirst strike. From then until his death, he endured seventeen days of the most excruciating torture which totally wrecked his body before he eventually died on May 11th. Sean McCaughey's inquest brought to the public eye, at last, the conditions which the prisoners had been enduring for so long. The prison doctor admitted at the inquest that he would not keep a dog in the conditions in which Sean McCaughey had existed for four years and nine months. A strong amnesty movement began to grow. At nightfall on Saturday 11th May, McCaughey's remains arrived at the Franciscan Church on Merchant's Quay, Dublin, from Portlaoise where the brown-clad friars of St. Francis received it. The following morning after Requiem Mass, McCaughey's remains were accompanied through Dublin by thousands, whilst thousands more lined the route. He was buried in Milltown cemetery, Belfast, the resting place of so many heroic republicans before and since.

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Take me home to Mayo --- the 70s

By Patrick McGlynn

The previous four parts of this five- part series, Patrick McGlynn has detailed the deaths of nine republican prisoners whilst on hunger-strike, from Thomas Ashe in 1917 to Sean McCaughey in 1946. During that period another eight men died, after hunger-strikes had ended, but as a direct result of having taken part in a prison fast. In this concluding article, the  hunger-strike deaths, of Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg during the seventies, are recalled, bringing the grim toll of this long rejection of criminalisation by Irish republican prisoners up to the current tragic events in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh.

 Both the hunger-strike deaths of the seventies took place in prisons in England. The first, on Monday 3rd June 1974, was Michael Gaughan of Ballina, County Mayo, followed almost two years later by another Mayo man, Frank Stagg of Hollymount, on Thursday 12th February 1976. Michael Gaughan was one of the earliest IRA Volunteers to be imprisoned in England in this phase of the struggle, being sentenced to seven years at the Old Bailey in London, in December 1971, for his part in a bank raid. He spent the first two years of his prison sentence in Wormwood Scrubs in London and then was moved to the Isle of Wight's top security prisons first, Albany, and then, in 1974, to Parkhurst. Among the other Irish political prisoners there at that time was Frank Stagg, sentenced with other IRA Volunteers in Coventry the previous November, to ten years' imprisonment, on the vacuous charge of conspiracy to cause explosions.

November 1973 had also seen the trial in Winchester of the Belfast Ten, Dolores and Marion Price, Hugh Feeney, Gerard Kelly and six others, who had been arrested following bomb explosions in London the previous March. Having received life sentences, the Price sisters, Feeney and Kelly immediately began a hunger-strike for repatriation to prison in Ireland. They were brutally force-fed for a total of two hundred and six days. Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg joined this hunger-strike on March 31st 1974, first of all in solidarity with the other hunger-strikers and also for the right to wear their own clothes and not to do prison work. On April 22nd, twenty-three days into their hunger-strike, Gaughan and Stagg were force-fed for the first time. They immediately escalated their demand to one for repatriation. "The mental agony of waiting to be force- fed is getting to the stage where it now outweighs the physical discomfort of having to go through with it," one of the hunger- strikers wrote to a relative. But the physical discomfort of force-feeding was considerable. During the operation, the prisoners were seated on a chair, and held down by the shoulders and chin. A lever was pushed between the teeth to prise open the jaw and a wooden clamp placed in the mouth to keep it open. A thick greased tube was then put through a hole in the clamp, pushed down the throat and into the stomach. Often the tube would go into the wind pipe and have to be withdrawn. During this procedure the victim would be constantly vomiting.

Visitors to Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg were only allowed to see them through a glass screen, supervised by prison warders. In fact, Michael Gaughan's last visit with his mother, three days before his death, took place in such circumstances. Because the prisoners were being force- fed, Michael Gaughan's death, on Monday 3rd June 1974, came as a shock. He died from pneumonia; the force-feeding tube having pierced his lung. He was twenty- four years of age.

The death of Michael Gaughan caused a major controversy in British medical circles and the use of forced-feeding was later abandoned by the British. More immediately, the four Belfast hunger-strikers were promised repatriation and ended their hunger strike on June 7th; Frank Stagg, having received a similar undertaking ended his fast ten days later.

 From the Isle of Wight to Ballina, Michael Gaughan's funeral brought thousands on to the streets. On Friday 7th June and Saturday 8th June, thousands of people lined the streets of Kilburn in London and marched behind his coffin, which was flanked by an IRA guard of honour. On Saturday, his remains were met by thousands more in Dublin and, flanked by IRA Volunteers again, were brought to the Franciscan church on Merchant's Quay. On Sunday morning, the cortege began the long journey to Ballina, stopping in almost every town and village en route, as the people turned out to pay their last respects. In Ballina, there was a Requiem Mass at the Cathedral. As the coffin was borne outside, a volley of shots was fired over it, before it was taken to Leigue cemetery, to be buried with full honours in the republican plot.

A month after the death of Michael Gaughan, Frank Stagg was moved from Parkhurst to Longlartin in Worcestershire. There, on October 10th 1974, Frank Stagg once more resorted to a hunger- strike, because he had not been transferred to Ireland, and because he and his relatives were being subjected to degrading searches before and after visits. As soon as Frank Stagg began this hunger- strike all his visits were stopped, although his mother was allowed a brief visit on October 26th. Thirty-one days into the hunger-strike, he was told that his demand for repatriation would be met and he ended his hunger-strike. In March 1975, Dolores and Marian Price were transferred to Armagh jail and, in April, Hugh Feeney and Gerard Kelly were moved to the cages of Long Kesh. But Frank Stagg remained in prison in England. By this time he was in Wakefield, where he was being kept in solitary confinement because he refused to do prison work. On December 14th 1975, Frank Stagg went on hunger-strike once again. His demands were for an end to solitary confinement and no prison work pending transfer to a prison in Ireland. This time any promises from the authorities would have to be given in writing.

On January 20th 1976 Frank Stagg was given the Last Rites, but, the following Sunday, the Bishop of Leeds ordered the prison chaplain not to say Mass in the presence of Frank Stagg. In spite of this, and much other pressure, Frank remained committed to his principles and, after fasting for sixty-two days, died on February 12th 1976. In order that he receive a republican funeral, Frank, before he died, specified in his will that his body be entrusted to Derek Highstead, the then Sinn Fein organiser in England. The Wakefield coroner complied with this request.  The remains of Frank Stagg were on the way to Dublin by air, when the Free State government, to prevent a display of republican sentiment like that which accompanied the funeral of Michael Gaughan, diverted the plane to Shannon airport.

Free State Special Branch men seized the coffin and locked it in the airport mortuary, preventing relatives from gaining access. The following day the coffin was transferred by helicopter to Robeen church at Hollymount in County Mayo. On Saturday 2N1st February, a Requiem Mass, boycotted by almost all his relatives, was held, and his body was taken to Ballina, where it was borne by Special Branchmen to a grave some yards from the republican plot in Leigue cemetery where he had asked to be buried. In the hope of preventing a transfer, six feet of cement was afterwards placed on top of the coffin.   On the Sunday, the Republican Movement held its ceremonies at the republican plot. A volley of shots was fired and a pledge made that Frank Stagg's body would be moved to the republican plot in accordance with his wishes. For six months there was a permanent twenty-four hour garda presence in Leigue cemetery, but eventually it was lifted. On the night of November 6th 1976, a group of IRA Volunteers, accompanied by a priest, dug down, beside the grave, tunnelled under the cement and removed the coffin. After a short religious service they re-interred the remains of Frank Stagg in the republican plot, beside the remains of Michael Gaughan.

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First Hunger Striker Named: Bobby Sands

In a statement smuggled out of the H-Blocks of Long Kesh, the first Irish political prisoner to begin the hunger strike was identified as Bobby Sands. Sands was the officer in charge during the pendency of the last hunger strike and was one of the recipients of the concessions which were broken by the British. The hunger strike began at 12:01 AM on March 1 st, which was 7:00 PM EST Saturday the 28th of February. The prisoners' grave action has been forced upon them in order to end systematic torture by the British and to gain recognition of political prisoner status as constituted by the five basic demands of no prison uniform, no penal work, educational facilities and free association, a weekly visit, parcel and letter, and restoration of remission. In making the announcement, Irish political prisoners noted that they could not comply with the request of the Republican Movement to forego a hunger strike at this time.

Since March 1st, 1976, the British have refused to recognize political prisoner status for those held under political offenses hr the north of Ireland. Those charged after that time were directed to wear a criminal uniform symbolizing for British propaganda purposes that they were "criminals and terrorists" rather than political prisoners. Those arrested prior to that date will have the right to wear their own . clothing and the other demands constituting political status. In order to force criminalization, the British have confined Irish political prisoners in the H-blocks of Long Kesh naked except for a blanket in cells filled with human excrement, without reading materials, access to other prisoners or a proper diet. The prisoners are also routinely beaten. This systematic torture led to the hunger strike between October 27th and  December 18th and the failure of the British to abide by the concessions given that night coupled with the reinstitution of these psychological and physical torture techniques has forced the renewal of the hunger strike as of Sunday, March 1st.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement issued by the  political prisoners in Long Kesh and Armagh British prisons, the prisoners announced that in order to focus all attention on the issue of political status and the hunger strike, commenced on Sunday, March 1, 1981 the prisoners would suspend the no- wash protest at this time. The hunger strike to the death has been forced on the prisoners because of the refusal by the British to restore recognition o: political status and end systematic torture as agreed on December 18,1981 at the close of the last hunger strike.

 The full statement reads as follows: From Monday, March 2nd 1981, we the Republican political  prisoners in the H Blocks of Long Kesh and Armagh Prison, ' will be coming off the No Wash/ No Slop Out Protest Exactly three years ago this month in the H Blocks there commenced a period of intense harrassment by screws who withdrew toilet and washing facilities in an attempt to break our resistance by forcing us to live in the squalor of our own dirt It developed as follows: If we went to the toilet we were assaulted so we stayed in our own cells.

When our chamber pots were full we were refused slop out buckets and it was in this way that our cells first became dirty. When we smashed the windows and threw the contents pf our chamber pots out the windows we were hosed down and the windows were eventually all boarded up. It was only after we had experienced all these harrassments that we deliberately decided to turn their punishments against them by making it into our own protest Like all attempts to break our will their punishments failed and out of that confrontation the 'No Wash/No Slop Out Protest emerged Similarly, in February 1980 screws in Armagh, believing they were dealing with a weak link in Republican resistance, withdrew toilet and washing facilities and forced the Republican women onto a similar protest However, with the hunger strike in the H Blocks now commanding increasing attention we have decided to end the No Wash/No Slop Out Protest and by doing so highlight the main areas of our demands which are not about cell furniture or toilet facilities but about the right not to wear prison uniform (prison issue clothing) in the H Blocks, and in both the H Blocks and Armagh Prison the right not to do prison work and the right to free association with fellow political prisoners (which includes segregation from Loyalists).

Despite ending the No Wash Protest and despite the public attention now being focused on the prisons we do not expect the screws to react more humanely. Each time we ring the bell to go to the toilet it will % be at the whim of screws whether wejgot in which case we will have to run a gauntlet of insults and assaults or don't go, in which case the temptation out of frustration would be to return to the No Wash Protest and a void all contact with the prison administration. Nevertheless, as from today we are prepared to run that gauntlet to highlight the hunger strike and the issue behind our demands for political status. In the H Blocks the blanket protest, symbol of Republican resistance, will continue, and in Armagh, where we the women can already wear our own clothes, the No Work Protest will also continue. Signed Pro, H Blocks Long Kesh, Pro Republican Women Prisoners * Armagh Prison.

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Bobby Sands (1954 - 1981)

BOBBY SANDS was born in Belfast on March 9th 1954. On his twenty-seventh birthday, on Monday week, he will have been nine days on hunger-strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. Bobby joined the Republican Movement when he was in his mid-teens, and when he was eighteen he was arrested in Lisburn and charged with possessing four handguns.   Bobby was arrested with three others (Sean Lavery, Joe McDonnell and Seamus Finucane) in a car in which one gun was recovered. They were brought to Castlereagh and were interrogated for six days and treated very badly.  He refused to recognise the court, and although the guns were in a very poor condition he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment which he served as a political prisoner in the cages of Long Kesh.  

 After his release, in April 1976, Bobby continued as an active republican, and was re-arrested, six months later in October after an IRA commercial bombing attack on the Balmoral Furnishing Company in Upper Dunmurry Lane, near his Twinbrook home.  When the RUC arrived on the scene there was a gun battle, he and two of the other Volunteers (Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett) were wounded and apart from giving his name and address Bobby refused to answer any questions. At the end of eleven months on remand, he and his five comrades, who all refused to recognise the court, were sentenced in September 1977. Despite them being caught in the vicinity of the bomb attack, the judge had to admit that there was not enough evidence to convict them on the explosives charge, but went on to sentence four of them, including Bobby, to fourteen years' imprisonment each, for possession of the same gun. As the trial came to an end, a fracas started by prison warders broke out in court, and as a result of this incident Bobby was sentenced to six months' loss of remission.  

He spent the first twenty-two days of his sentence 'on the boards' in Crumlin Road jail, fifteen days of which he was kept completely naked and was ridiculed by the prison warders.  When he was moved to the H-Blocks in late September 1977, Bobby refused to wear a prison uniform, and went on the blanket in resistance to the policy of criminalisation. Later, under the pen-name, Marcella (his sister's name), he began writing articles for 'Republican News'. In the H-Blocks Bobby has suffered the routine abuse from the prison administration and has been forcibly bathed and scrubbed down with deck brushes a number of times. He was PRO of the blanket men  in the cages of Long Kesh in 1975 until he succeeded Brendan Hughes as O/C when Brendan went on the hunger-strike in October. Bobby has played a major part in formulating and leading republican resistance to criminalisation within the Blocks, and recently conducted negotiations with the prison governor, Stanley Hilditch, in attempting to resolve the prison crisis, which foundered when the British administration adopted an inflexible and intransigent attitude. Bobby has now spent nearly eight years, including nine successive Christmases, behind bars.

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Rallies in support for the hunger strikers begin

 Irish People -

Irish Northern Aid, N Y. C, last Saturday March 21st. conducted the first in a series of indoor rallies aimed at expressing the intensity of Irish-American support for the Hunger Strikers. The rally combined representatives from the media, politics, labor, various ethnic groups and Irish-American organizations all of whom recorded their unqualified support for the Irish hunger strikers in their demand for political status and their determination to exert sufficient pressure upon the British to see that Bobby Sands and his comrades do not die. The purpose of the rally was stated as follows:  Irish-Americans have watched with concern , and our concern became indignation during the hunger strike last winter and our indignation has become outrage.  We are here to express out- support for three basic principles:

 1. That Englishmen do not have a right to torture Irish men and women in order to continue British rule in Ireland

 2. That those Irish men and women who resist British rule are political prisoners no matter how many times Englishmen meet in Westminster and call them criminals.

 3. That Irish-Americans are now determined to pressure Britain through our political leaders, the media, Irish organizations, and the labor unions, to see that Bobby Sands, Frankie Hughes, Raymond Mc Creesh and Patsy O'Hara do not die in the infamous H-Blocks of Long Kesh prison on the north of Ireland. 

The initial spokesman, Dr. Martin Abend, noted television commentator, stated that for him, the hunger strike symbolized 800 years of Ireland's struggle. A few against overwhelming force without weapons except their ' willingness to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of their homeland will ultimately be victorious simply because they refuse to be defeated.

Representatives of the National Board of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Political Education Committee, the Emerald Society of the Firefighters Union and the New Jersey Irish Caucus then came to the microphone to pledge their organizations fully to the cause of the hunger strike. New York State Assemblyman Sean Patrick Walsh, who was instrumental last winter in having a resolution passed by the New York State Assembly calling for political status and an end to systematic torture for Irish political prisoners, then spoke. He said that it was pointless to examine the legal system or indeed the prison system because as long as England rules Ireland, torture and repression will rule Ireland.

Solidarity messages were then read from United States Senator Alphonse D'Amato and Congressional Representatives Leo Zefferetti and Geraldine Ferraro. Zefferetti said, " British policy has failed miserably in controlling the violence and in ensuring the rights of Ulsters Nationalist population. It is clear that London's effort to impose a military solution to a political problem is not the answer. The people of Ireland must be given the opportunity to pursue their own political destiny. The American people desire a just and lasting peace for all of Ireland, and it is the duty and responsibility of the United States government to use its influence in seeking that peace."

 Ferraro wrote, "I am deeply concerned with the basic denial   of civil and human rights occurring in the north of Ireland. The callous deprivation of due process, evidenced by the actions of the Diplock Courts, shows little if any respect by the British judicial system for the individual  rights of Irish citizens. The time has come to set a new peace initiative for all of Ireland that will put an end to the gross violations of human rights occurring in Northern Ireland.  It is in the best interests of the United States that there be a just and equitable solution to this problem in order that peace, order, justice and well being be restored to to that part of the world."

 D*Amato said, "The struggle for human rights and dignity in Northern Ireland must be supported by all freedom-loving people, injustice and religious intolerance must be crushed and in its place a free and united Ireland must be allowed to grow. I pledge my fullest support to all the embattled people of Northern Ireland who seek to live in peace, side by side, under the flag of a united Ireland."

Labor leaders Michael Maye and Bill Tracey then spoke briefly,  pledging their organizations behind the hunger strikers. Longshoreman head, Teddy Gleason. telegramed as follows: "I wish to express the concern and support of the 100,000 members of the International Longshoreman's Association, AFL-CIO, for the Irish political prisoners who are now on hunger strike in Long Kesh prison in the north of Ireland.  The I. LA. has long opposed torture and tyranny by any government, and we particularly support the Irish people for the reunification of their country. . Again, We also urge all peoples who have an interest and concern for the freedom and unification. of Ireland and its people, and especially those interested in human rights, dedicate themselves to making the Irish cause a moral issue in the United States.  It is time for meetings around the country to carry out such an effort." Black political activist Amiri Baraka then spoke stating that he was there as a foe of all imperialism, particularly British imperialism in Ireland. Solidarity messages were then extended by the American Indian Treaty Council and the Welsh Socialist Republican MovemenL A second rally was announced for Saturday, March 28, 1981 in San Francisco. Meanwhile, 400 members of Irish Northern Aid picketed in Philadelphia, including City Councilman Rafferty and the Mayor of Upper Darby. A crowd of demonstrators also conducted a candlelight vigil outside the British Consulate residence in Chicago.

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Two more strikers named

 The three were interrogated at Bessbrook barracks, and three days later were  charged with attempting to kill British soldiers, conspiring to kill British soldiers, possession of firearms, and IRA membership. After nine months on remand Ray was sentenced m a non-jury court in March 1977. He refused to recognize the court. Next Tuesday he will have been four years on the blanket, and during that time he has forfeited his visits rather  than wear the prison uniform for that short half-hour per month. He took his first visit with his parents, recently, to inform them that he was going on hunger-strike.

  Patrick O'Hara was born in Derry city on February 11 th 1957. He was only eleven years of age when, along with his parents,' he took part in the big civil rights march in Derry on October 5th,- 1968, which was batoned by the RUC. A year later he again witnessed one of the milestones in the present troubles when the RUC invaded, and were defeated, during the Battle of the Bogside during  August, 1969. Patrick, known as Patsy, joined na Fianna h-Eireann in 1970 and although under-age,  he joined Sinn Fein in early 1971. A few months after the introduction of  internment his eldest brother Sean was interned. One night as Patsy, then only fourteen years old was standing with others manning a "no go' barricade in the Brandywell area, British soldiers opened fire on them, wounding him in the foot. He spent five weeks in hospital, being released shortly before Bloody Sunday, January 30th, 1972. Later in the year he joined the Sticky Republican Clubs but quickly became disillusioned with their ignoring the national question.  In 1974 his home was continually raided by the British and he was frequently harassed and beaten up by them, before being interned in October. After his release in April 1975 he joined the Irish Republican Socialist Party, but within two months he was re-arrested and framed by the British who planted a stick of gelignite in his father's car, which he was driving. He spent ten months on remand before being acquitted.

 The British and RUC continued to harass the O Hara family in 1976, and another brother. Tony, who is now on the blanket in the H-Blocks. was arrested and charged with a political offense for which he was subsequently convicted on the basis of an alleged verbal statement. Patsy, himself was arrested again in September 1976 and charged with possessing arms and ammunition - this was really internment-by-remand as he was released after four months when his  charges were dropped. In June 1977 he was arrested in Dublin, interrogated for seven days, and charged with holding a garda at gunpoint.  He was released on bail six weeks later and in January 1978 he was acquitted. Patsy was arrested once more in May 1979. He was charged with possession of a hand grenade and was convicted on the basis of accusations made by two British soldiers. He was sentenced to eight years imprisonment in January 1980 and immediately went on the blanket.

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The birth of a republican - Bobby Sands

 'The birth of a Republican: from a nationalist ghetto to the battlefield of H-Block', by hunger-striker Bobby Sands, was first published anonymously in 'Republican. News', December 16th 1978. The smuggled-out article, introduced as 'A blanket man recalls how the spirit of republican defiance grew within him', is a semi-autobiographical account. For example, although blanket men have been denied compassionate parole for the funeral of a parent, as described in the article, Bobby Sands' own mother was a  the time very much alive and, in fact, she had addressed the Belfast rally held on the first day of his hunger- strike, calling for support for her son to save his life.

 CHILDHOOD

 From my earliest days I recall my mother speaking of the troubled times that occurred during her childhood. Often,  she spoke of internment on prison ships, of gun attacks and death, and of early morning raids when one lay listening with pounding heart to the heavy clattering of boots on the cobble-stone streets, and as a new day broke, peeked carefully out of the window to see a neighbour being taken away by the Specials. Although I never really understood what internment was, or who the Specials were, I grew to regard them as symbols of evil. Nor could I understand when my mother spoke of Connolly and the 1916 Rising, and of how he and his comrades fought and were subsequently executed — a fate suffered by so many Irish rebels in my mother's stories.  When the television arrived, my mother's stories were replaced by what it had to offer. I became more confused as 'the baddies' in my mother's tales were always my heroes on the TV.  The British army always fought for 'the right side' and the police were always 'the good guys'.. Both were to be heroised and imitated in childhood play.

 SCHOOL

  At school I learnt history, but It was always English history and English historical triumphs in Ireland and elsewhere. I often wondered why I was never taught the history of my own country and when my sister, a year younger than myself, began to learn the Gaelic language at school I envied her.  Occasionally, nearing the end of my school days, I received a few scant lessons in Irish history. For this, from the republican-minded teacher who taught me, I was indeed grateful. I recall my mother also speaking of 'the good old days'. But of all her marvelous stories I could never remember any good times, and I often thought to myself 'thank God I was not a boy in those times', because by then - having left school' - life to me seemed enormous and wonderful.  Starting work, although frightening at first, became alright, especially with the reward at the end of the week. Dances and clothes, girls and a few shillings to spend, opened up a whole new world to me, I suppose at that time I would have worked all week, as money seemed to matter more than anything else.

 CHANGE

  Then came 1968 and my life began to change. Gradually the news changed. Regularly I noticed the Specials, whom I now knew to be the 'B' Specials, attacking and baton-charging the crowds of people who all of a sudden began marching on the streets. From the talk in the house and my mother shaking her fist at the TV set, I knew that they were our people who were on the receiving end. My sympathy and feelings really became aroused after watching the scenes at Burntollet. That imprinted itself in my mind like a scar, and for the first time I took a real interest in what was going on. I became angry. It was now 1969, and events moved faster as August hit our area like a hurricane. The whole world exploded and my own little world just crumbled around me. The TV did not have to tell the story now, for it was on my own doorstep. Belfast was in flames, but it was our districts, our humble homes, which were burnt. The Specials came at the head of the RUC and Orange hordes, right into the heart of our streets, burning, looting, shooting, and murdering. There was no-one to save us, except 'the boys', as my father called the men who defended our district with a handful of old guns. As the unfamiliar sound of gunfire was still echoing, there soon appeared alien figures, voices, and faces, in the form of armed British soldiers on our streets. But no longer did I think of them as my childhood 'good guys', for their presence alone caused food for thought. Before I could work out the solution, it was answered for me in the form of early morning raids and I remembered my mother's stories of previous troubled times. For now my heart pounded at the heavy clatter of the soldiers' boots in the early morning stillness and I carefully peeked from behind the drawn curtains to watch the neighbours' doors being kicked in, and the fathers and sons being dragged out by the hair and being flung into the backs of sinister- looking armoured cars. This was followed by blatant murder: the shooting dead of our people on the streets in cold blood. The curfew came and went, taking more of our people's lives.

  IRA

  Every time I turned a corner I was met with the now all-too-familiar sight of homes being wrecked and people being lifted. The city was in uproar. Bombings began to become more regular, as did gun battles, as 'the boys', the IRA, hit back at the Brits. The TV now showed endless gun battles and bombings. The people had risen and were fighting back, and my mother, in her newly found spirit of resistance, hurled encouragement at the TV, shouting 'give it to them boys!' Easter 1971 came, and the name on everyone's lips was 'the Provos', the people's army, the backbone of nationalist resistance. I was now past my eighteenth year, and I was fed up with rioting. No matter how much I tried,' or how many stones I threw I could never beat them — the Brits always came back. . . . I had seen too many homes wrecked, fathers and sons arrested, neighbours hurt, friends murdered, and too much gas, shootings, and blood, most of it my own people's.

At eighteen-and-a-half. I joined the Provos. My mother wept with pride and fear as I went out to meet and confront the imperial might of an empire with an M1 carbine and enough hate to topple the world. To my surprise, my school- day friends and neighbours became my comrades in war. I soon became much more .aware about the whole national liberation struggle — as I came to regard what I used to term 'the troubles'.

 OPERATIONS

  Things were not easy for a Volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.  Already I was being harassed, and twice I was lifted, questioned, and brutalised, but I survived both of these trials. Then came another hurricane: internment. Many of my comrades disappeared — interned. Many of my innocent neighbours met the same fate. Others weren't so lucky, they were just murdered. My life now centred around  sleepless nights and standbys, dodging the Brits, and calming nerves to go out on operations. But the people stood by us. The people not only opened the doors of their homes to us to lend a hand, but they opened their hearts to us, and I soon learnt that without the people we could not survive and I knew that I owed them everything. 1972 came, and I had spent what was to be my last Christmas at home for quite a while. The Brits never let up. No mercy was shown, as was testified by the atrocity of Bloody Sunday in Derry. But we continued to fight back, as did my jailed comrades, who embarked upon a long hunger-strike to gain recognition as political prisoners. Political status was won just before the first, but short-lived, truce of 1972. During this truce the IRA made ready and braced itself for the forthcoming massive Operation Motorman,-which came and went, taking with it the barricades. The liberation struggle forged ahead, but then came personal disaster - I was captured. It was the autumn of '72. I was charged, and for the first time I faced jail. I was nineteen-and-a- half, but I had no alternative than to face up to all the hardship that was before me. Given the stark corruptness of the judicial system, I refused to recognise the court. I ended up sentenced in a barbed wire cage, where I spent three-and-a-half years as a prisoner-of-war with 'special category status'.  I did not waste my time. I did not allow the rigors of prison life to change my revolutionary determination an inch. I educated and trained myself both in political and military matters, as did my comrades.  In 1976, when I was released, I was not broken. In fact,  I was more determined in the fight for liberation. I reported back to my local IRA unit and threw myself straight back in to the struggle. Quite a lot of things had changed. Belfast had changed. Some parts of the ghettos had completely disappeared, and others were in the process of being removed. The war was still forging ahead, although tactics and strategy had changed. At first I found it a little bit hard to adjust, but I settled into the run of things and, at the grand old age of twenty-three, I got married. Life wasn't bad, but there were still a lot of things that had not changed, such as the presence of armed British troops on our streets and the oppression of our people. The liberation struggle was now seven years old, and had braved a second and mistakenly- prolonged cease-fire. The British government was now seeking to Ulsterise the war, which included the attempted criminalisation of the IRA and attempted normalisation of the war situation. The liberation struggle had to be kept going. Thus, six months after my release, disaster fell a second time as I bombed my way back into jail!

CAPTURE

With my wife being four months pregnant, the shock of capture, the seven days of hell in Castlereagh, a quick court appearance and remand, and the return to a cold damp cell, nearly destroyed me. It took every ounce of the revolutionary spirit left in me to stand up to it. Jail, although not new to me, was really bad, worse than  the first time. Things had changed enormously since the withdrawal of political status. Both republicans and loyalist prisoners were mixed in the same wing. The greater part of each day was spent locked up in a cell. The screws, many of whom I knew to be cowering cowards, now went in gangs into the cells of republican prisoners to dish out unmerciful beatings. This was to be the pattern all the way along the road to criminalisation: torture, and more torture, to break our spirit of resistance. I was meant to change from being a revolutionary freedom fighter to a criminal at the stroke of a political pen, reinforced by inhumanities of the most brutal nature.  Already Kieran Nugent and several more republican POWs had begun the blanket protest for the restoration of political status. They refused to wear prison garb or to do prison work. After many weekly remand court appearances the time finally arrived, eleven months after my arrest, and I was in a Diplock court. In two hours I was swiftly found guilty, and my comrades and I were sentenced to fifteen years. Once again I had refused to recognise the farcical judicial system. As they led us from the courthouse, my mother, defiant as ever, stood up in the gallery and shook the air with a cry of 'they'll never break you, boys', and my wife, from somewhere behind her, with tear-filled eyes, braved a smile of encouragement towards me. At least, I thought, she has our child. Now that I was in jail, our daughter would provide her with company and maybe help to ease the loneliness which she knew only too well. The next day I became a blanket man, and there I was, sitting on the cold floor, naked, with only a blanket around me, in an empty cell.

H-BLOCKS

 The days were long and lonely. The sudden and total deprivation of such basic human necessities as exercise and fresh air, association with other people, my own clothes, and things like newspapers, radio, cigarettes, books, and a host of other things, made life very hard. At first, as always, I adapted. But, as time wore on, I came face to face with an old friend, depression, which on many an occasion consumed me and swallowed me into its darkest depths. From home, only the occasion  letter got past the prison  censor. Gradually my appearance and physical health began to change drastically. My eyes, glassy, piercing, sunken, and surrounded by pale, yellowish skin, were frightening. I had grown a beard, and, like my comrades, I resembled a living corpse. The blinding migraine headaches, which started off slowly, became a daily occurrence, and owing to no exercise I became seized with muscular pains. In the H-Blocks, beatings, long periods in the punishment cells, starvation diets, and torture, were commonplace. March 20th, 1978, and we completed the full circle of deprivation and suffering. As an attempt to highlight our intolerable plight, we embarked upon a dirt strike, refusing to wash, shower, clean out our cells, or empty the filthy chamber pots in our cells. The H-Blocks became battlefields in which the republican spirit of resistance met head-on all the inhumanities that Britain' could perpetrate. Inevitably the lid of silence on the H-Blocks blew sky high, revealing the atrocities inside. The battlefield became worse: our cells turning into disease- infested tombs with piles of decaying rubbish, and maggots, fleas and flies becoming rampant. The continual nauseating stench of urine and the stink of our bodies and cells made our surroundings resemble a pigsty. The screws, keeping up the incessant torture, hosed us down, sprayed us with strong disinfectant, ransacked our cells, forcibly bathed us, and tortured us to the brink of insanity. Blood and tears fell upon the battlefield — all of it ours. But we refused to yield.

 PROUD

  The republican spirit prevailed and as I sit here in the same conditions and the continuing torture in H-Block 5, I am proud, although physically wrecked, mentally exhausted, and scarred deep with hatred and anger. I am proud, because my comrades and I have met, fought and repelled a monster, and we will continue to do so. We will never allow ourselves to be criminalised, nor our people either. Grief-stricken and oppressed, the men and women of no property have risen. A risen people, marching in thousands on the streets in defiance and rage at the imperial oppressor, the mass murderer, and torturer. The spirit of Irish freedom in every single one of them — and I am really proud. Last week, I had a visit from my wife, standing by me to the end as ever. She barely recognised me in my present condition and in tears she told me of the death of my dear mother - God help her, how she suffered. I sat in tears as my wife told me how my mother marched in her blanket, along with thousands, for her son and his comrades, and for Ireland's freedom. When the screws came to tell me that I was not getting out on compassionate parole for my mother's funeral, I sat on the floor in the corner of my cell and I thought of her in heaven, shaking her fist in her typical defiance and rage at the merciless oppressors of her country. I thought, too, of the young ones growing up now in a war- torn situation, and, like my own daughter, without a father, without peace, without a future, and under British oppression. Growing up to end up in Crumlin Road jail, Castlereagh, barbed wire cages, Armagh prison and Hell- Blocks. Having reflected on my own past I know this will occur unless our country is rid of the perennial oppressor, Britain. And I am ready to go out and destroy those who have made my people suffer so much and so long. I was only a working class boy from a nationalist ghetto, but it is repression that creates the revolutionary spirit of freedom. I shall not settle until I achieve the liberation of my country, until Ireland becomes a sovereign independent socialist republic. We, the risen people, shall turn tragedy into triumph. We shall bear forth a nation!

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New Jersey Indoor Rally:

The fifth in a series of National Hunger Strike Defense Rallies organized by Irish Northern Aid took place Sunday, April 12th, 1981, in New Jersey at Seton Hall University. The rally was chaired by Peter Farley of the Irish National Caucus of New Jersey Inc. who stated that the rally was intended as a showing of support for the hunger strikers. He then introduced the first speaker, Fr. Kevin Flanagan. Fr. Flanagan talked about the impact which Irish-American support exerted in British calculations as to whether they would drive Irish political prisoners to their deaths, rather than stop attempting to impose criminalization by systematic torture. The next speaker was television commentator Dr. Martin Abend, who noted that attempts have been made to censor or silence him because of his Republican stand on Ireland. Abend noted that the British seem to particularly fear him because he is of a non- Irish ethnic background.  He stated that years ago he had seen that as long as the British ruled Ireland as long as the British ruled a part of Ireland, it would mean torture, political prisoners, state encouragement of sectarianism and warfare.  Everything that has occurred during the last ten years has reinforced his analysis. He added that the hunger strike itself, with an elected member of Parliament dying on hunger strike in a British jail, is but one more manifestation of the evil done by the partitioning of Ireland.

Dr. Abend was followed by Martin Galvin of Irish Northern Aid. Mr. Galvin spoke about the implications of Bobby Sands' election victory stating that, "The Britons have stood at Westminster and called those who resist British colonial rule in Ireland criminals and terrorists, but the Irish people have again thrown the lie back in their faces and shouted to the world that Ireland regards those who resist British colonial rule in Ireland as patriots and freedom fighters." Mr. Galvin then read a telexed statement from Sands which responded to reports that he will be expelled from Westminster. Galvin noted "Such an expulsion will prove even more conclusively than the election result, if that is possible, the basic point which Sands sought to make - that so long as Britain rules a part of Ireland the will of the Irish people will mean nothing and British interests will mean everything in determining the government of the country."
 

The next speaker was unannounced It was former blanketman Seamus Delaney of Belfast Delaney detailed his case, in which he was convicted on the basis of a confession beaten out of him after four days at Tennent Street Barracks which left 27 marks on his body. He was sentenced to 31 years, and but for the intervention of Dr. Robert Irvin, the. police surgeon who examined him, he would still be confined in the infamous H- Blocks of Long Kesh rather than having his case accepted .by the European Court at Strasbourg. He noted that such cases are typical and went on to describe the inhuman conditions of the blocks.  The next speaker was State Senator Patrick Dodd of New Jersey. Dodd stated that he was personally gratified at Sands  election victory, which showed- how the people are behind the political prisoners. He alluded to the apparently imminent attempt to expel Sands and stated that no matter what course the British pursued they would not overcome the implications of Sands victory. The next speaker was also an elected official New Jersey Freeholder Francis Fahy, who spoke on behalf of the Political Education Committee of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He placed himself personally and his organization solidly behind the hunger strikers and the blanketmen. The closing speaker was Michael Costello of the Irish Northern Aid   Prisoner of War Committee. Mr. Costello spoke of the urgency of American support and outlined a number of activities and demonstrations which will take place in the immediate future.

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Sands' Victory!

The election is over. The people of South Tyrone and Fermanagh have spoken Bobby Sands has won.  It was an unexpected triumph. Supportive realists and pragmatists had hoped for a Sands vote of fifteen thousand, which would have provided a solid show of popular support. Optimists had hoped for twenty to twenty-five thousand votes as a tremendous showing in the face of the overt opposition of the Loyalist candidate and the covert opposition of the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) which had called for the voting of blank ballots. The victory which emerged was unforeseen and indeed mind- boggling in light of such opposition. It is even now impossible to grasp all of the implications and ramifications of that victory won by the young blanketman on his forty-first day of hunger strike to the death. It is, however, readily apparent that it is a victory of enormous magnitude whose impact will not only be felt by the British, but also by politicians in the Irish Free State and in America itself.
 

 The deepest impact of the election was inflicted upon the British. The British have long claimed that those who oppose their colonial occupation of Ireland are criminals, without support or legitimacy.  Indeed,  they have expended much in money, time and effort in order to gain world acceptance of this view. It is difficult to conceive of a more telling and resounding refutation of this view than that provided by .the men and women of South Tyrone and Fermanagh last week. Thirty thousand Irishmen and women in one day have expunged totally and irrevocably ten years of British propaganda effort. They have said that in the hearts and minds of the Irish people, those who oppose British rule are patriots and freedom fighters vested with a deep and intense support.  It is a support which sometimes lies beneath the surface yet is no less real. So long as such support exists, it will always be British rule in Ireland which is criminal. It remains, after all, the Irish people who must determine for themselves what government is legitimate or illegitimate in Ireland.  The people spoke last week in South Tyrone and Fermanagh and said that resistance to British rule is legitimate and the frustration of Irish national freedom by British troops is truly terrorism.

  Indeed the election had such impact on the British that it was followed by an immediate blunder. Thatcher's regime threatened not to accept the election. What better way to make Sands' point, that British rule is based on the utter denial of the will of the Irish people, and for the British to cast aside his election. The threat itself drew an immediate outcry, even within Britain. At this writing several United States Congressmen, members of the New York and Massachusetts State Legislatures and other elected officials in the U. S. and throughout the world have already raised their voices in opposition. The British may back down, but they have already made it a bit more costly for themselves to drive Bobby Sands to his death amidst daily torture in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh.
 

The impact was also felt in the United States. The election victory was of course a major boost to supporters of the hunger strikers. It was also a major setback to those Irish surnamed politicians who have styled themselves the "Friends of Ireland." The "Friends of Ireland" are tied to the SDLP in the north and particularly to John Hume. The SDLP called upon the people to spoil their ballots. It was not only a call for the betrayal of the parlimentry seat to arch-rival Harry West but a call which, if heeded, amounted to a death sentence for Bobby Sands.  The SDLP is a party based upon political opportunism, whose members strive for places of patronage within the system, rather than striving for the interests of the people whom they purport to represent.  They are a natural counterpart for the "Friends of Ireland" who seek merely to prevent themselves from losing Irish- American votes, while doing nothing on the issue of Ireland to earn those votes. In the election, less than nine percent of the nationalist community supported the SDLP on the national question. So much for the mandate of the SDLP to speak for the north of Ireland So much for those in America who lose their credibility in Ireland to linkage with the SDLP.

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Bobby Sands dead. He died Tuesday, May 5, at 1:17 AM. His death drew reaction as follows:
 

IRA STATEMENT:

 "The Irish Republican Army sends its sincerest condolences to the bereaved family of our comrade, Volunteer Bobby Sands, M.P., Blanketman and hunger striker who died in the early hours of this morning on the 66th day of his hunger strike for political status. "We send a message of sympathy to Bobby's hunger striking comrades and to all Republican prisoners at this grave moment in our struggle. "The world has witnessed at first hand the violence of the Mother of Parliaments - England - on the peaceful protest of a young imprisoned Irish man. The Irish people will draw their own conclusions and the Irish Republican Army urge a disciplined response from the angry and frustrated nationalist youth." Signed, P. O'Neill, Irish Republican

 Publicity Bureau, Dublin. "sought constantly by every means open" to him to "secure a humanitarian solution that would avoid loss of life". "In fact, he had done the opposite and avoided taking the only line of action asked of him - that is, publicly calling upon Britain to give the political prisoners their just and reasonable demands."
 

STATEMENT BY SINN FEIN PRESIDENT RUAIRI O'BRADIAGH:
In the record of struggle of peoples and small nationalities for identity and liberation, the place of Ireland is well to the fore. But in that chronicle of events one of the highest points and proudest achievements must be the experience of the hunger-strike. Within the sixty-six days and nights of fasting to the death of our comrade Bobby Sands, the Irish people bestowed on him the highest honour that lay within their power in that period of time — they elected him their parliamentary representative for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the British-occupied six counties.
 Before the achievement of that signal honour and recognition the gifted, humane and totally dedicated Irish revolutionary who was Bobby Sands had given years of service to his people. Nine of his twenty-seven years on this earth were spent in prison, the last four being in the unspeakable  conditions endured by Irish republican prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. Whether as active service Volunteer, political prisoner, officer commanding the protestors in Long Kesh or writer interpreting the excruciating prison struggle, Bobby Sands gave of himself for others to the full.  Now he has laid down his last great burden, his final responsibility among humankind he has discharged in the fullest painful measure.

 For human dignity at its greatest stature, he has died on the slow agony of the hunger-strike. Surrounded by his political enemies he has resisted all blandishments and has triumphed before his people and the watching eyes of the world.
Nationally' and internationally none followed the progress  of his sacrifice with closer attention than did the downtrodden and the oppressed everywhere. For them there was no need to interpret, to explain; they observed and they knew; his struggle and his suffering were theirs in common cause.
Now he has breathed his last, supported by the unflinching courage of his family, to whom flows the heartfelt sympathy of his comrades in struggle and of all who respect integrity and self-sacrifice. His death is not a defeat but a triumph for the human spirit over material considerations. His martyrdom was bravely undertaken, heroicly endured, and has now been consummated. Bobby Sands' life and death make Irish people everywhere prouder of their heritage and nationality.

He has left this world on May 5th, sixty-fifty anniversary of the execution of that courageous soldier and 1916 leader, John Mac Bride. As he goes to join the great company of Irish heroes and martyrs, his actions speak out for his generation in the struggle against oppression;  and the words placed on record at the death of his great predecessor, Terence MacSwiney bear repetition today. "At the shrine of his bier and the death-bed of his comrades we pledge that, while an Irish heart  beats, we shall resist till the hands of those who would rob our country of its independence shall fall nerveless, or a just Judge has taken His vengeance."
 

 NORAID STATEMENT:

 "Irish Northern Aid joins millions of Americans, particularly Irish-Americans, in mourning for Robert Sands, an elected member of Parliament "British politicians, who in life labeled him a criminal, have been indelibly branded as liars in the eyes of Americans and indeed of the world. Criminals do not suffer such deaths for the freedom of their country no matter what Margaret Thatcher or English men at Westminster might say.. "Indeed , it must be difficult for any English man to grasp the implications of his death. However, the Irish people understand it as do the millions in the diaspora throughout the world. Sands' election to Parliament was an unmistakable message to England that the Irish people acknowledged Sands as a political prisoner, held for justifiable resistance to the colonial occupation of his country. "Sands' death constitutes a calculated act of murder by the British, who would have permitted him to stay alive only by accepting systematic daily torture and by betraying principles dearer to any freedom-loving person that life itself

"It is 65 years ago to the day that Margaret Thatcher's predecessors began the execution of the leaders of the 1916 Irish Rebellion. The British colonial rulers of Ireland of that day smugly believed that they had forever put to rest Irish aspirations for national freedom. Instead, the British engendered a wave of outrage and resistance which ended direct British colonial rule in 26 of Ireland's 32 counties. Sands' election, the protest worldwide and the street demonstrations of the past weeks are unmistakable signals that the British, in taking Sands' life, have provoked a reaction which this time may mean the end of British colonial rule throughout all Ireland "One young Irish man alone in a British prison has fought the might of the British Empire, including its worldwide propaganda machine, and he has defeated them. "May his death not be in vain. May his country and his people soon see and end to colonialism, and end to sectarianism and military occupation, and with the end of these aspects of British rule, may they have the beginnings of peace after 812 years.

 Irish Northern Aid immediately announced a daily picket in front of the British Consulate and a boycott of British Airways. All of the demonstrations had extensive media coverage as the hunger strike has become a major topic in the American media. More than 10,000 marchers closed off five Manhattan blocks in front of the British Consulate last Saturday, in the largest Republican demonstration in America in ten years. The second largest demonstration occurred spontaneously on Tuesday, following the death of Robert Sands.  Similar demonstrations occurring across the country.  Transit Union Worker leader John Lawe called upon his members to drive with headlights on all day on the day of Sands  burial. A national boycott of British Airways has been announced. San Francisco, more than 2,000 demonstrated, and there was a call by Fr. Devine for a boycott of British goods which received extensive media coverage. In Boston, there have been daily demonstrations since Sands death and the daily pickets continue in Chicago. Philadelphia has also been the site of major protests. Meanwhile the Longshoremen announced a one-day refusal boycott of British ships.  This Saturday's demonstration will feature guest speaker Dr. Martin Abend.  These are but samplings of activities across the nation as Irish-Americans unite as never before behind the hunger strikers and against British colonial rule in Ireland.
 

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Francis Hughes – Dies  May 12 1981

 Saturation coverage involving British troops and RUC prevented the funeral of hunger striker Francis Hughes from passing through his native village last Friday. All roads leading into the small south Derry village of Bellaghy were closed from early morning by the massive British operation - forcing the estimated 30,000 mourners to walk more than four miles to the church. Angry mourners hurled bricks and bottles at the RUC when they refused to allow the cortege to pass along the shorter route, through what locals say is the predominantly Nationalist village. But that was the only clash in the otherwise peaceful ceremony, which lasted more than five hours. The RUC - who claimed the village has a 50-50 population division between Nationalist and Loyalist - forced the hearse to make a three-mile detour to St Mary's Church. A three-man IRA firing party in full battle dress fired a volley of shots over the Tricolor-draped coffin bearing the remains of the 25-year-old IRA man, as it left his farmhouse at 1:30 p.m.

 Tension mounted minutes later when the advance funeral party confronted the RUC road block. After a 30-minute confrontation during which the bricks and bottles were thrown, Republican stewards directed the cortege away from the occupation forces. Thousands of mourners lined the fields along the route before filing in behind the coffin on its way to the church. Seven men and four women wearing IRA uniform flanked the hearse. They were followed by over 100 women carrying wreaths for the dead hunger striker. Three British Army helicopters hovered over the funeral party - their engines repeatedly drowned out the graveside prayers at the end of the ceremony. In an obvious reference to the RUC handling of the situation, The Very Rev. Michael Flanagan, local parish police, told the congregation that the Hughes family had borne unnecessary difficulties with great dignity and restraint "They have suffered a lot over the past two weeks and particularly so over the past two days. They have borne unnecessary difficulties with great dignity and restraint" The dead man's elderly parents, Patrick and Margaret Hughes, and his nine brothers and sisters surrounded the grave", which is the first in a new park of the rural churchyard.  Euro M.P. Neil Blaney, T.D., Rev. Piaras O ' Duill, chairman of the National H Block Committee, and leading Republicans attended the funeral. An RUC spokesman said that there were no clashes reported from the area as the thousands of mourners made their way back to Belfast, Derry, and the surrounding areas.

Meanwhile demos across United States continue:   Demonstrations across the United States continued to increase last week following the death of Francis Hughes. The largest demonstration of the week took place in New York, amidst daily pickets and a twenty-four-hour vigil at the British Consulate. Last Saturday, more than 9000 people participated in a two- hour demonstration, which included a casket attended by a uniformed color guard honoring Francis Hughes. The demonstrators then paraded to the United Nations where a memorial service was conducted. The speakers at the demonstration included television commentator Dr. Martin Abend, New York State Assemblymen John Dearie and Leo Ferris, labor leader William Tracy, Ancient Order of Hibernians National President John Connolly, attorney Frank Durkan, and Michael Flannery of Irish Northern Aid. The demonstration, organized by Irish Northern Aid, was supported by several county societies, Irish organizations, and labor unions. On Sunday, the largest demonstration took place in Philadelphia, where 8000 marchers were led by Mayor Green and a host of judges and councilmen. That demonstration was also led by Irish Northern Aid.  Daily pickets continue in Chicago, Illinois, and demonstrations continue across the country. Former blanketman Seamus Delaney, following his appearance on national television in the ABC network "Nightline" program, surfaced in the Midwest on two Chicago radio programs. Meanwhile, Neil Cassidy remains on the West Coast, where he made several television appearances in Los Angeles. Charles Crumley appeared in Washington, D.C, and Philadelphia.

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 Ray McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara die May 21st , 1981

 Raymond McCreesh and Pat O'Hara became the third and fourth Irish hunger strikers to perish in the infamous H-B locks of Long Kesh The pair, both twenty- four years old, died within twenty-four hours of each other. The replacement for the late Raymond McCreesh, on the four- strong H-Block hunger strike, is a Belfast Republican who was captured in August 1976. Twenty-five-year-old Kieran. Doherty began hunger strike on May 22. Born on October 16, 1955, Kieran Doherty, a single man, is one of a family of six who comes from the Andersontown district of Belfast Kieran Doherty joined the Republican movement in late 1971. He was arrested in February 1973 and interned without charge or trial in Long Kesh for almost three years, before being released in November 1975. In August 1976, he was arrested on his own in Balmoral Avenue, Belfast, sometime after a car chase on the Malone Road involving two cars and the RUC Special Patrol Group. Three other Andersontown men, John Pickering, Chris Moran, and Terry Kirby, were captured at the same time after a brief siege while Liam White was arrested in the same area.  They were all charged with a variety of offenses, Kieran himself being charged with possession of firearms and explosives and high jacking a car. After spending 17 months on remand, he was sentenced on January 24, 1978, to 22 years imprisonment On arrival at Long Kesh, Kieran and the four other Andersontown men, who received sentences of between 18 and 26 years, immediately joined their comrades on the blanket protest, on which they have remained ever since.

Patsy O'Hara's replacement is Kevin Lynch from Dungiven in County Deny and whose twenty-fifth birthday fell on Monday, May 25 th. He began a hunger strike by refusing breakfast in H-3 Block, Long Kesh, on Saturday, May 23rd. He was born in Park Village, eight miles west of Dungiven. He is the youngest boy in a family of eight and has four older brothers and three sisters. His mother and father live in Dungiven. Kevin joined his local group of Na Fianna Eireann, which at that time was associated with the Sticky Republican Clubs, in 1970. He took keen interest in sports and the GAA when at St Patrick's Secondary School, Dungiven. He once captained the County Derry Under-16 hurling team which won an All- Ireland final. He left school when he was 16 and worked as a bricklayer. In 1972, when the Sticks called a ceasefire, he left and worked in an independent active service unit He went to England in August 1973, where he worked at bricklaying for three years. Whilst in England he joined St Dympna's GAA Club in Luton and played for Hertfordshire County Minor Team. He went to a few anti-internment marches and returned to Ireland early in 1976 on a holiday, but decided to stay on. He then joined the INLA, which had since broken away from the Republican 'Clubs. He was arrested out of his Dungiven home at 5:00 am on December 2,1976, in a joint British army/- RUC raid Three other men, Liam McCluskey, Seamus McGrandles, and Harry Mullan, were also arrested at the same time. Kevin was first taken to Limavady RUC barracks before being transferred to Castlereagh Barracks in Belfast, where he was interrogated for three days. He was charged with an armed raid, with carrying out a punishment shooting, and conspiracy to disarm members of the British forces. He was brought to Crumlin Road Jail and w.as on remand for a year before being sentenced. 

Patsy O'Hara from Derry city was the former leader of the Irish National Liberation Army prisoners in the H-Blocks, and joined IRA Volunteer Raymond McCreesh on the hunger-strike on March 22nd, three weeks after Bobby Sands and one week after Francis Hughes. Since then, they have witnessed the removal of the emaciated bodies of their two dead comrades and have been joined by two more blanket men on the fast, Joe McDonnell from Belfast, last Saturday May 9th, and Brendan McLaughlin from County Derry, last Thursday May 14th. Despite the horrific trauma of losing two of their comrades whom they have lived with for several weeks in the hospital (ironically being allowed to associate with each other in the evenings, which is prohibited in the H-Blocks and which is one of their five demands) and despite the agony and pain, both Patsy O'Hara and Raymond McCreesh, with incredible courage, have refused to waver.

Patsy O'Hara was born on July 11th 1957 at Bishop Street in Derry city. His parents owned a small public house and grocery shop above which the family lived. His oldest brother, Sean Seamus, who is presently unemployed, was interned in Long Kesh for almost four years. The second eldest in the family, Tony, is presently on the blanket in H5-Block serving five years and only saw his brother recently, for a short half-hour and accompanied by a prison warder, on the forty-sixth day of Patsy's hunger-strike in the H-Block hospital. The youngest in the O'Hara family is twenty-one-year-old Elizabeth, who is particularly fond of Patsy, and says that she was 'more close to him than anyone in the family'.
Raymond  McCreesh, the seventh in a family of eight children, was born in a small house at St. Malachy's Park, Camlough  on February 25th 1957. The McCreeshes, a nationalist family in a staunchly nationalist area, have been rooted in South Armagh for seven generations, and both of Raymond's parents — James, aged 65, a retired local council worker, and Susan (whose maiden name is Quigley), aged 60 - come from the nearby townland of Dorsey. They were married in 1945, in the parish of Cullyhanna and lived in Dorsey until around 1951, when they moved to their present home in Camlough. Raymond  was a quiet but very lively person, very good-natured and — like other members of his family — extremely witty. Not the sort of person who would push himself forward if he was in a crowd, and indeed often rather a shy p person in his personal relationships until he knew the person well. Nevertheless, in his republican capacity he was known as a capable, dedicated and completely committed Volunteer who could show leadership and aggression where necessary.
 

HEROES NEVER DIE... . Brian Mor 1981

 Third Avenue was almost empty now. A handful of people kept the vigil alongside the flag draped coffin, while New Yorks finest, leaning in the doorway of 845 Third Avenue, held up the building that housed the British Consulate. Small  groups of people spoke in low, voices as they acknowledged-the arrival of new people or the return of people who had left to watch the late-night news in the local Clancy's. Traffic on the avenue had thinned to a ten to one majority of ta;;is over buses, trucks and cars. People gazed from the windows of cars as they waited for the light to change.   Now and then you heard from the occupants of the cars, "Up the IRA" or "Keep it up, boys".
I stood on the outside of the barrier watching the city that never sleeps getting drowsy. You can look down Third Avenue from Fifty-First Street for miles and watch the ever-changing department of traffic light show, red to yellow to green and over and over again as the spaces between the moving white lights become wider as the hours get later. On this particular night last week, I was talking to a couple of people who after nearly three weeks of manning the all-night vigil were not surprised at anything that happened, all agreed that you don't need a full moon in this town to bring out the kooks the hard glow of neon will handle the job nicely.

Then something happened, that startled even myself, a street wise, native New Yorker... A yellow cab slowed to a stop and the driver's door opened. I looked at Dave Gould who was standing next to me as the driver who looked like a million other cabbies in this town came around the cab with a plastic wrapped bouquet of yellow flowers. Tommy McEnery who was standing by the coffin moved towards the police barrier and the cabbie placed the flowers in his hands and softly spoke, "I am Greek and I know what these British are. We have dealt with them ourselves. Please take these as my tribute to the brave men" He headed back to his cab, leaving all of us in silence and as he opened the door, he raised his accented voice a notch and said,  "Remember...Heroes never die!" The cab started and made the light and we watched the red flashing tail lights slowly blend into the uptown traffic.  one spoke for what seemed like quite a while, and when we did, I guess we agreed that man who works the night watch in this hard and cold city had said it all.

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Irish Republican prisoners contest free state elections as thousands protest across America
 

Nine seats in the Free State parliament will be contested by H-block/ Armagh prisoners in the election scheduled for the eleventh of June. The candidates include the four hunger strikers, four other blanketmen and one Armagh female prisoner.  breakdown is as follows: Joe McDonnell for Sligo-Leitrim; Keiran Doherty for Cavan-Monaghan; Martin Hurson for Longford-Westmeath; Paddy Agnew for Louth; Sean McKenna for Kerry; Mairead Farrell for Cork- North Central; Kevin Lynch for Waterford; J. O'Hara for Dublin West; and Tom McAllister for Clare.   The manifesto drawn up by the National H-block/Armagh Committee declares that" a No 1 vote for the prisoners is a demand that the Irish Government stand up to the British in defense of the prisoners' lives." The two-page document will shortly be distributed to houses in the nine constituencies where prisoners are standing in the General Election. A rally in Dublin last Saturday began with a march from St Stephen's Green to the GPO. A head-count at Cuffe Street indicated that there were 5,000 people on the march. The protesters came from all over the country and shouted a variety of slogans directed at the Taoiseach, the British Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher, and others including "Open up the H-block door".   The demonstration was orderly. However, ten people will appear in court in Dublin charged in connection with incidents at North Earl Street and Abbey Street on Saturday evening after the GPO rally. Five are from the North, three men and two women. The rest come from Dublin, according to Store Street gardai. The H-block manifesto maintains that the only consistent policy on Ireland of successive British governments has been "croppies lie down." The manifesto states: "Since 1976, the British Government has attempted to reduce the 'Irish problem' to one of law and order. This is to deny the existence of any political problem or struggle in the North — any valid national question." It argues against Mrs. Thatcher's   view that the prisoners in the North are "common criminals." 

 "She conveniently forgets the 'special' interrogation centers, 'special' courts, 'special' rules of evidence and 'special' length of sentences which produce these prisoners. She forgets the special situation in the Six Counties into which they were born and in which they grew up — in a situation which was none of their making," the manifesto maintains. It recalls that before 1976 special category status existed in Long Kesh and Armagh prisons, but that this has now been abolished The only discernable reason for the abolition, it argues, is that "the British thought with the rise of the Peace People that the political and military struggles were beaten and decided to 'put the boot in' the prisoners.   "From the generalized slogan of political status, the prisoners have formulated five demands which the voters are asked to support They are: the right to wear their own clothing, the right to refrain from compulsory prison work and to be allowed instead to use the time 'for education in vocational, craft or cultural fields', free association with other political prisoners, one letter, parcel and visit per week and the restoration of remission lost through the protest "These are minimal demands after five years of degradation, humiliation and torture," says the manifesto. "How can the people of the Southern side of the border take .the hand of friendship offered by Mrs. Thatcher when the other hand is on the throats of our people in the North? How can you allow a government acting in your name to claim a 'unique relationship' with such a hard- necked, spiteful, reactionary woman?" the manifesto asks. The current talks with the British Government give Mrs. Thatcher a political strategy, while Irish troops on the border give her a military one, the manifesto argues. "Both these should be denied to Mrs. That cher," it states. NORTH' BETRAYED' The manifesto concludes by saying that the North was betrayed by the signing of the Treaty and  that "because of coercion by the British Government our prisoners are part of the result of that betrayal. Don't let it happen again." it says. 

 The hunger strike defense campaign in the United States continued at a rapid pace. The Baltimore City Council enacted a resolution calling for political status and condemning British intransigence for the murders of the four deceased hunger strikers. A large demonstration was held in Washington D.C. including about one thousand marchers; The picket included a sizeable contingent from Maryland which proceeded to Washington in a 150 car motorcade. In Phil more than 3,000 attended a demonstration last Sunday. The main speaker was Jack McKinney, prominent Philadelphia journalist Daily demonstrations continue in New York highlighted by an 8,000 strong demonstration in front of the British Consulate last Saturday, featuring the first United States appearance of Maura McDonnell. Meanwhile, Charles Crumley, returned to Derry to attend the funeral of a close friend who was killed by British troops during the week, after his breakthrough in Florida Seamus Delaney continued his mid-Western swing appearing in Kentucky, Toledo and Cleveland. Noel Cassidy became the first blanketman to appear in Oregon as he continued his West Coast swing.

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The Irish political prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh have decided to escalate their protest by increasing the number of hunger strikers. Tom Mcllwee of Bellaghy, South Derry, began the hunger strike last Monday. The decision was announced as follows by the prisoners: "From Monday, June 8th, 1981, we the Republican political prisoners in the H-Blocks, Long Kesh, will be escalating the hunger strike. The escalation will take the form of more Republican prisoners going on hunger strike and they will be phased onto the hunger strike over a matter of weeks. We feel that this escalation is necessary because the existing four-man relay strategy allows the British a recuperation period during which they can enjoy a lessening of pressure and can callously prepare for the deaths of the next hunger strikers. The escalation will ensure that no respite occurs. The British apparently believe that sooner or later we are going to abandon the hunger strike and our principles. This is naive and wishful thinking on their behalf. Four of our comrades have given their live.s for our and their beliefs and we are not going to dishonour their sacrifice by surrendering our principles. We are totally committed to attaining the rights for which our comrades died; we have the resolve and the manpower to attain those rights and not under any circumstances are we going to be robbed of those rights. The fact is that the deaths of our four heroic comrades have served only to strengthen our determination and our will to win our just and basic demands.

Sooner or later, the British are going to realise that we are not going to meekly surrender, that their intransigence is futile, and that only by giving us our demands will the hunger strike be ended" Tom Mcllwee is 23 years of age and comes from Bellaghy in South Derry, his home being only a few hundred yards from that of his friend and comrade, the late Francis Hughes. Tom has five older sisters, and three sisters and three brothers younger than he. His 21 year-old brother Benedict is also on the blanket, having been arrested on the same IRA operation in 1976. Tom left school at 17 and worked as an apprentice motor mechanic for a while. He was part of an IRA active service unit consisting of 7 Volunteers, all of whom were arrested after a premature explosion occurred in a car four of them were in, in the Markethill area of Ballymena town on October 9th, 1976. As a result of the explosion, Tom lost an eye, his comrade Sean McPeake lost a leg, and Colm Scullion lost several toes. Also on the operation were Tom's brother Benedict and Tom's girlfriend, Dolores O'Neill. Those injured were brought to different hospitals and later-had 19 charges laid against them, the most serious of which, the death of a woman in Ballymena, was reduced to manslaughter on appeal last October, on the grounds that they had not intended killing her. Tom spent 11 months on remand arid after a trial lasting three weeks in October 1977, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment plus life imprisonment He is on the blanket in H5, his brother Benedict is on the blanket in H4 serving 10 years, and his girlfriend, Dolores O'Neill, serving life, is on protest in Armagh jail. After three and a half years on the blanket, Tom begins his hunger strike by refusing breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Monday, June 8 th, 1981 and joins Joe McDonnell (31 days), Kieran Doherty (18 days), Kevin Lynch (17 days) and Martin Hurson (11 days).

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Two Republican prisoners elected and relatives of hunger strikers visit

Two IRA soldiers imprisoned in Long Kesh were elected to seats in the Irish Free State Parliament on June 12th in an election that destroyed the governing majority of Prime Minister Charles Haughey. "We, the political prisoners, are now in the unique position of being the only prison community with three elected representatives," said a statement issued in Belfast by the two Long Kesh prisoners of war, Patrick Agnew, 26, and Kieran Doherty, 25. Doherty is on a hunger strike to the death since May 24th. A third Irish Republican Army prisoner, Bobby Sands, was elected to the British Parliament in April. He died last month of starvation in a hunger strike protest When final results were counted, Haugheys Fianna Fail party had 78 seats, Fine Gael had 65, and Labor 15. Independent candidates, including the two IRA prisoners, took eight seats in  Leinster House.  Under Irish law, residents of north Ireland are considered citizens of the 26 county state with full rights, including the right to hold political office. An IRA spokesman said, however, that the two men would not take their seats.   Neither of the two major parties gathered enough votes to form a government and political experts said Fine Gael would likely form a coalition led by the Fine Gael leader. Garrett Fitzgerald However, even the two-party coalition would lack the votes to assure control. The election of the IRA members was a major setback for Haughey, who expected his party to win seats in the two constituencies. Seven other Irish political prisoners, including Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Sean McKenna, Mairead Farrell, Tom McAllister, and Tony O'Hara, made substantial showings at the ballot box. TV & Radio Ban The total votes won by each candidate becomes even more amazing when one considers that the prisoners became candidates a very short time before the election, and Sinn Fein spokesmen were by legislation denied access to all television and radio stations.

 Meanwhile three young relatives of Irish hunger strikers who gave their lives in the cause of that nation's freedom and unity came to New York last Saturday in the hope of meeting with Prince Charles. John Sands, 19 year old brother of Bobby Sands, Elizabeth O'Hara, 21 year old sister of Patsy O'Hara, and Malachy McCreesh, 29 year old brother of Raymond McCreesh, hoped to meet with Charles during his visit to New York on Wednesday. The relatives, who sent a  request to the Consulate by telegram  the plea was to be strengthened by many phone calls to the Consulate, intended to ask that the prince find time  on his tour here to talk with the three young people who know the hunger strikers' demands first hand of the ordeal of the  hunger strike and who seek to save the lives of others now on strike or determined to join it John, Elizabeth and Malachy, who will be in the U. S. for three weeks, made their first public appearance at the end of the Irish Northern Aid protest picket outside the British Consulate on the day of their arrival. Charles will visit the Royal Ballet at Lincoln Center on his schedule for Wednesday. Irish demonstrators plan to be there, too, from 5 p.m. on. The relatives will also be attending a large planned rally at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Meanwhile, another young Irishman joined the hunger strike last Monday. His name is Paddy Quinn of Belleeks, County Armagh.

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Michael Devine joins hunger strike & Hunger striker family members arrive in New York

Michael Devine, H-Block 5. age 27, from the Creggan in Derry, today (6/22/81) joined the H-Block hunger strike, bringing the number of hunger strikers to seven. Michael, who is a member of the IRSP, was four years on the blanket protest yesterday. His father died in 1966 and his, mother in 1972. He has an older sister Margaret Michael's married with 2 children, Michael, age 7 and Louise, 5. He attended St Joseph's secondary school in Derry and left in 1970. He subsequently worked as a fitter in Hill Furniture Store in Strand Road and then as a salesman in Sloans of Shipquay St He also worked in Austin's Furniture Store of the Diamond. He joined the Republican Clubs around the time of Bloody Sunday in 1972. In November 1974, after having broken ties with the Republican Clubs, he helped found the IRSP in Derry. He was arrested in the Creggan on September 20,1976 after an arms raid on a private collection in Lifford, Co. Donegal, in which rifles, shotguns and ammunition were taken. He was arrested along with Desmond Ramsay from the Shatallow and John Cassidy from the Rosemount area. They were all held for three days in the Strand Road before moving to Crumlin Road prison where he spent nine months on remand. He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment on June 20, 1977 and has been on the blanket ever since in H5.

 Three young relatives of Irish hunger strikers who gave their lives in the cause of that nation's freedom and unity came to New York last Saturday in the hope of meeting with Prince Charles. John Sands, 19 year old brother of Bobby Sands, Elizabeth O'Hara, 21 year old sister of Patsy O'Hara, and Malachy McCreesh, 29 year old brother of Raymond McCreesh, hoped to meet with Charles during his visit to New York on Wednesday. The relatives, who sent a The request to the Consulate telegram plea to the British Con- was to be strengthened by many sulate in New York on Monday, phone calls to the Consulate, intended to ask the Prince to asking that the prince find time meet with Prime Minister That- on his tour here to talk with cher and request her to implement three young people who know the hunger strikers' demands first hand of the ordeal of the for recognition of their special hunger strike and who seek to save the lives of others now on strike or determined to join it John, Elizabeth and Malachy, who will be in the U. S. for three weeks, made their first public appearance at the end of the Irish Northern Aid protest picket outside the British Consulate on the day of their arrival. Charles will visit the Royal Ballet at Lincoln Center on his schedule for Wednesday. Irish demonstrators plan to be there, too, from 5 p.m. on. Meanwhile, another young Irishman joined the hunger strike last Monday. His name is Paddy Quinn of Belleeks, County Armagh. The ongoing hunger strike by Republican prisoners in the H- Block cells of Long Kesh prison 4camp has demonstrated the intransigence and contempt of the British for the cause of freedom and justice in Ireland The resulting worldwide publicity generated by the sacrifice of the first group of hunger strikers and of their companions who are now facing death has, for the first time, challenged Britain's intentions and actions in Ireland. Those of us in America who care and feel for the ongbing agony in Ireland have resolved to bring unceasing and unrelenting pressure to bear on the British through our extensive nationwide publicity campaign. We need your financial support in order to succeed. We must press forward with the task of keeping Americans informed about events in Ireland We must also continue supporting the dependents of Irish political prisoners. Please help us in this noble task. The centuries past have given us too many martyrs. Help us bring this agony to an end before other young Irish patriot men and women are lost to us.

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Joe McDonnell 50 days on Hunger strike - status of other strikers poor

This Saturday is leading H-Block hunger- striker Joe McDonnell's fiftieth day without food, and his physical condition is now seriously weakening as every agonising day passes by. The previous four blanket men — Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Raymond McCreesh, and Patsy O'Hara — who died as a result of the British  government's H-Block death policy, survived sixty-six, fifty- nine, sixty-one, and sixty- one days, respectively, on their fast. So time is running out all too rapidly for Joe McDonnell, who is out two weeks ahead of his hunger-striking comrades Kieran Doherty and Kevin Lynch. The cruel intransigence of British premier Margaret Thatcher and her Tory henchmen needs to be broken now, otherwise there will soon be the tragic first of a fresh procession of coffins coming out of the H-Blocks.

 On Monday, yet another blanket man will join the hunger-strike, bringing the number on the fast up to its expected maximum of eight at any one time. The seventh hunger-striker, IRSP blanket man Michael Devine from Derry city, began refusing food in his cell in H-Block 5 last Monday. The prisoners intend to maintain the number on hunger-strike at eight and have staggered the timing of those joining the protest, since the first four deaths and their replacements, in such a way that the British government will be allowed no lull should they persist in their inflexibility towards the prisoners' five just demands. With Joe McDonnell now reaching the critical stage of his hunger- strike, his condition has deteriorated markedly over the past week — his seventh without food. Since Sunday last he has been unable to leave his bed and any movement results in dizzy spells. His vision has now become blurred and he is having great difficulty in keeping water down.

 Both Kieran Doherty and Kevin Lynch, who on Saturday will be thirty-seven and thirty-six days on hunger-strike, respectively, have lost almost two stone in weight and both are now in the prison hospital with Joe McDonnell. ' Also in the hospital is Martin Hurson, who was moved from H5-Block on Monday after twenty- five days on hunger-strike. He has already lost 24 lbs. weight since he started the fast. By this Saturday Martin will have gone thirty days without food.

 Latest reports about Thomas McElwee, who will be twenty days on hunger-strike by Saturday, indicate that he is suffering greatly from the cold because the heating in his cell has been turned off. • Hunger-striker Joe McDonnell's wife, his behalf, this week in Dublin Paddy Quinn is having similar trouble and by Saturday he will be thirteen days on the hunger- strike. Micky Devine, who on Monday brought the number on the hunger- strike to seven, is suffering initial stomach pains but otherwise he has no other physical complaints Goretti, and son, Joseph, protesting on as yet. Joe McDonnell is now suffering the serious physical problems of a' prolonged hunger-strike. With the other hunger-strikers . following him in almost weekly succession the H-Block crisis can only sharpen drastically.

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Mcdonnell & Hurson Die

Martin Hurson died last Monday on his forty-sixth day of hunger strike in the H- Blocks of Long Kesh. He was twenty-four. Already the RUC have announced that they will not release the body unless it is taken home via a selected route through Loyalist areas.   A successor will be named on Wednesday. H-Blocks of Long Kesh. The manner of Joseph McDonnell's death shouts to the world that this man was indeed no criminal but an Irish Republican soldier who fought, endured imprisonment and torture and now suffered an agonizing death so that the Irish people might be free of British colonial rule in Ireland Joseph McDonnell, Irish Republican Army volunteer who died July 8 th on hunger strike in Long Kesh concentration camp, was buried July 10 th in a traditional IRA military funeral, in spite of a British attack on the funeral cortege on its way to the cemetery. McDonnell's death, another British killing of a defenseless man who had dared to stand up against aggression and terror, was the fifth among the hunger strikers protesting British criminalization of Irish freedom fighters. 

In a statement issued directly after Joe's death, Irish Northern Aid said "Irish Northern Aid mourns the death of Joseph McDonnell, the fifth young Irishman to perish on hunger strike in the infamous Joe McDonnell Last Friday the hunger strikers publicly called for negotiations and a settlement that might com- ply with Republican principles without subjecting the British to international humiliation. The British colonial rulers of Ireland again callously concerned themselves only with propaganda victory, ignoring humanity, morality or justice and thereby brought upon themselves the condemnation of all civilized peoples. "We express our deepest sympathies to his wife and two children and our hope that his children will soon see the freedom in Ireland which Joseph McDonnell died to achieve." The English government occupying and directly ruling its six- county colony in Ireland had apparently decided that a desperately needed propaganda victory could be eked out by a terrorist attack on the peaceful and orderly funeral procession of 10,000 mourners. To this end, a large force of British troopers and RUC — estimated by onlookers at as many as a thousand — concealed themselves in a Church along the march route to Milltown Cemetery. Shortly after the IRA color  guard of three volunteers and  their commander had fired the traditional volleys over McDonnell's tricolor-draped casket, the British force stormed out of the  Church in an attempt to capture  the color guard The British  terrorists opened fire with small arms and plastic bullet projectors. 

Although nothing beyond stones and bricks were available to defend the procession, about 200 Irish did their utmost to repel the British troops and collaborationist RUC long enough to allow the color guard to escape. The troops fired at the color guard and followed them into a house. Patrick Adams, brother of Sinn Fein Vice President Gerry Adams, was seriously wounded and captured. Shot once above the heart and four times in the back, he was in critical condition. The net total of arms captured in this taig-baiting episode was three obsolete Garand rifles harking back a generation to World War II. Meanwhile, the IRA stocks of modern M16  rifles and M60 machine guns are still at large. The IRA's Belfast Brigade issued a statement decrying the British attempt to elevate the armed attack on the funeral cortege into a major defeat of the IRA: "That the cream of the British military and RUC paramilitary forces are reduced to mounting an offensive on mourners and of being forced to deploy hundreds of heavily armed terrorists with armoured support to capture a small number of weapons speaks for itself."

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Massive Irish American Demonstrations 7/12/81:

"Shame on you! Shame on you, Britain!", cried Oliver Hughes, brother of murdered hunger striker Francis Hughes. The two thousand plus crowd also cried out," Shame on you! Shame!" The chanting crowd was demonstrating their anger and frustration at the British Government The people gathered in front of the British Consulate to protest the murder of Joseph McDonnell McDonnell died in Long Kesh prison on Wednesday, July 8, after 61 days on hunger strike. Hughes was one of five speakers who talked to the crowd.  "Twelve years ago," Hughes said, "a civil rights movement began; and twelve years ago, the jailings began." The crowd hung on every word as Hughes told them of the severe harassment the British authorities inflicted upon himself and his family after they joined the civil rights movement.  "It got so bad", he said, "Francis had to leave home." Francis was captured in an S.A.S. ambush, Hughes said. He was tried in the Diplock Courts si before a judge who handed out years as if they were weeks." Francis Hughes was sentenced to life imprisonment for the killing of a British soldier. Francis Hughes died after 59 days on hunger strike. Oliver Hughes stunned the crowd when he said that when the family received the body from the prison, authorities, the corpse was mutilated "They mutilated the body, we were told, because they wanted to know the cause of death." If that wasn't enough, Hughes explained, as the funeral procession started off from the prison, "British thugs" stopped it, bashed the funeral director and his helper senseless and tried to hijack the hearse. Hughes reported to the crowd, "I heard one of them say, 'Get the casket, we'll burn the body."

 Although organized by Irish Northern Aid, the presence at the demonstration of many other Irish organizations underscored a unity of opposition to the British government.  "At no other time in the last 13 years have the Irish people been so united on an issue", exclaimed Fergus O'Hare, a member of the H- Block Armagh Committee and a Councillor on the Belfast City Council. Addressing the protesters, O'Hare said that the British government will bend if enough outside public pressure is brought to bear, especially pressure from America. O'Hare said that as he traveled across the U.S., he has heard people asking, "What can I do to help the hunger strikers?" "The sympathy is out there," he remarked "We must transform that sympathy into active support We must build a crusade across the U.S. until the pressure builds so high that the British government must grant the five demands!" O'Hare was only one of the speakers calling for help. Andrew McCartney, the brother of a former hunger striker, Ray McCartney, and Mrs, Alice Mcllwee, the mother of hunger striker Tom Mcllwee, pleaded with the crowd to support the hunger strikers in any way possible. Ray McCartney was on hunger strike for 53 days last year. He ended his fast when the hunger strikers and the British government arrived at a settlement just before Christmas. The British abrogated the agreement only days into the new year. Tom Mcllwee is presently on hunger strike and has refused food for 36 days. Both speakers told of the suffering endured by their loved ones and pleaded with the crowd to help them to help all the hunger strikers.

Dr. Martin Abend, fresh from his appearance in Albany, reminded the crowd that in honoring Joseph McDonnell, they were honoring his fight and those who continue to fight for freedom in Ireland Following the speeches, the demonstrators marched to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza for a Mass in memorial to Joseph McDonnell. In his homily, Fr. Kevin Flanagan, the major celebrant, scored England for its cruel injustices visited on the Irish for so many hundreds of years. England is crumbling from within, he said The riots in the cities of England, he explained, demonstrate the presence of fundamental injustice within England itself. t As Fr. Flanagan began his homily, the chimes ofthe Church posite the Mass site, rang the evening Angelus. As the chimes pealed softly, Fr. Flanagan called for a silent prayer for Joseph McDonnell. Among those who attended the Mass was City Councilman Thomas More Mantoa The demonstration was filmed by a BBC Frontline Crew which is preparing a segment on the publicity campaign in America.

 Michael Alison also paid a surprise 24 hour visits to the U.S. as the British fears about Irish-American reaction reach desperation point Last week, Americans protested the murder of Joseph McDonnell in Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and in the states of New York and California.   Philadelphians held a demonstration and protest on Wednesday, July 8. Also on July 8, Chicagoans demonstrated in front of the British Consulate there. In Boston, there was a twenty-four hour vigil. Boston is planning a protest for July 16, in front of Symphony Hall and for July 28, when the World Ballet of London comes to town In Albany, New York, an individual seated on the steps of the Capital started a fast on Saturday, July 4. By mid-week, two others joined him. The first individual went off fasting this Saturday, July 11, but the two others will be fasting until Saturday, July 18. In New York City, on Wednesday, July 8, Sean Sands, Elizabeth O'Hara and Malachy McCreesh attended their last gathering. They cheered on dispeople gathered in front of the British Consulate. The relatives thanked the protesters for their support Sands, O'Hara and McCreesh then flew home to be with the McDonnell family in their time of loss. In California, SanFranciscoans, 500 strong, marched on July 10 from City Hall to the British Consuls residence. In Santa Barbara, a vigil was held on July 13. Boycotts of British goods are under way up and down the West coast On July 11, there was a demonstration in Albany on the steps of the state capital. Dr. Martin Abend, noted television commentator, was the guest speaker. The demonstration was also attended by two State Assemblymen. The week ended last Tuesday, with a series of demonstrations across the United States in response to the death of Martin Hurson More than 2000 people attended the New York demonstration in front of the British Consulate. The crowd was visibly angered and shouts of "British murder" and similar deprecation and the clanging of bin lids greeted the Consulate employees as they sheepishly emerged from their place of employment The guest speaker was Roisin Quinn Greavey, the sister of hunger striker Paddy Quinn. Demonstrations were also held in San Francisco, outside the Consulate, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia

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Doherty & Lynch near death, as negotiations falter and Dublin riot

The physical condition of two hunger strikers in the Long Kesh concentration camp had deteriorated seriously by last weekend Kieran Doherty, whose family visited him on Friday, July 17 th, was unable to move his leg. His family had to lift it to ease his pain. He did not speak during the visit but was able to hear and sense what was happening around him. Kieran was still vomiting and had severe headaches. Kevin Lynch received the Last Rites on Thursday night, July 16 th. His family, visiting him on July 17 th, noted that he was much weaker, with sight blurred and hearing impaired. As counterpoint to these murderous results of British policy in occupied Ireland, the English government continued its desperate attempts to break the hunger strike by employing traditional guile and deceit On July 17th, the Republicans in Long Kesh shattered another English scheme based on manipulation of supposedly independent and neutral committees. This latest try at tricking the hunger strikers into giving up without getting anything but a few craftily worded unwritten English promises has failed, destroying part of the credibility of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Committee's honest and sincere members, made cats' paws by the British, were finally told outright by the Irish prisoners to withdraw and get on with the work the Committee was supposed to be doing - visiting various prisons and concentration camps in British-occupied Ireland The step-by-step account of how the British government tried to manipulate the Red Cross Committee reveals one or two new wrinkles. • The attempt began on July 16 th, when the Red Cross dele gation came to Long Kesh and, oddly enough, headed for the prison hospital and the hunger strikers. The hunger strikers were told that the delgation had come to investigate prison conditions. Then the real purpose came out—that the delegation hoped to be of help in settling the H-Block protest.
 

The hunger strikers, wary of helpful visitors by now, had insisted that Brendan McFarlane, officer commanding, be present. Brendan gave the delegation a detailed breakdown of similar recent interventions, including those of the European Commission on Human Rights and the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace (ICJP) . Brendan told the Red Cross delegation that its best service in this regard would be to get the British to talk directly with the prisoners about a settlement based on their July 4th statement The ICRC delegation members then suggested that they might be instrumental in bringing officials of the British government to the negotiating table. Attractive bait, indeed!
 

The Republicans immediately outlined a format for the negotiations. The Red Cross- delegates said that the proposal would be given to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), the agency attempting to implement British policy in the occupied counties. Things must have hummed in Whitehall between the July 16  afternoon meeting and the three ICRC-prisoner meetings next day. The first of the three, lasting an hour and a half, indicated that the British refused to negotiate directly on the July 4th Irish statement The ICRC delegates suggested, however, that a verbal outline of the British government's interpretation of the prisoners' state ment might help.

The Irish then had to listen to a point-by-point reiterating of the ICJP proposals made the week before. Brendan and the hunger strikers again told the Red Cross delegation that only direct negotiations would allow dialogue to continue. Another meeting in early afternoon brought no more news than that the British were inflexibly opposed to direct negotiations. For the third meeting, at 7 p.m., the British trotted out a new version of an old diplomatic weapon of theirs. They proposed that if any individual prisoner wanted clarification on any document issued by the Secretary of State, the prisoner could request to see a prison governor, who them just might arrange to have an NIO official present (There was no information as to whether mirror searches or Castlereagh torturers might be included in the offer.) ' This proposal to negotiate separately with hunger strikers was the last straw. The ICRC delegation was told plainly that Irish suspicions that the delegation would be exploited by the British were now confirmed The Irish also told the Red Cross delegation that their best service for the prisoners would be withdrawal. So ended another English machination, this one a try at using the honest, frank, and sincere officials of the International Red Cross.

As the hunger-striking TD, Mr. Kieran Doherty, entered his 67th day without food, and Kevin Lynch his 66th, the Grand Master of the significantly conciliatory approach to the H-Blocks dispute, said that he favoured concessions on clothes and that he thought the British Government should not be unduly worried about terms like political status.  Kieran Doherty,TD,   yesterday lost his hearing and began to lose his sight on his 66th day of hunger-strike in the H-Blocks, according to relatives. The condition of Kevin Lynch, on his 65th day without food yesterday, also continued to deteriorate. The H-Blocks Information Centre also maintains that the IRA prisoner, Patrick Quinn, who has been on hunger-strike for 43 days, is deteriorating sharply. Efforts are still being made to get around the British Government's refusal to allow the Republican prison leader, Brendan McFarlane, to-be present during any explanation by Northern Ireland Office personnel of what the prisoners might expect, should their protest end. The hunger strikers insist that McFarlane must be present. The suggestion was relayed to McFarlane through a chaplain and, within an hour, he told the prison governor that he would be willing to be present to listen and to ask questions. Shortly afterwards, the Northern Ireland Office said that McFarlane could not attend under any circumstances. It is understood that some hope remains among those involved in trying to find a solution, based on suggestions from the NIO that a verbal explanation to the prisoners of the July 8th statement made by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr. Atkins, would contain a lot more promising detail than the bare terms of the statement. But the language used by British Government officials during contacts to date has consisted of "nods and winks". One of the seven councillors who met Mr. Michael Alison, the Minister responsible for prisons, last Tuesday said that the Minister had told them the last sentence of the telegram concerning prison clothes was the important one. The sentence runs; "We would not rule out the possibility of further development." The councillors asked what did this mean, and claimed that Mr. Alison replied: "Well, of course, there is only one further move and I cannot give you a clearer hint than that." Observers of the hunger-strikers' condition are expressing some surprise at the continued consciousness of Mr. Doherty and Kevin Lynch. Of the six hunger-strikers, who have died to date, only the first, Mr. Bobby Sands, MP, survived as long. He died on his 66th day without food, but had then been in a coma for two days- .

About 17,000 Irish Republican  supporters battled 1,000 Free State Gardai near the grounds of the British Embassy yesterday as a banned march in support of the IRA hunger strikers turned into a riot. At least 160 people were injured. The spokesman said it was the Free State's worst riot since 1972, when a mob burned the old British Embassy. Led by Daithi O'Connell and Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, the 17,000 demonstrators marched to the British Embassy in defiance of a ban on protests around the diplomatic compound. The rioting erupted when a delegation was allowed through barricades to lay a wreath at the Embassy. Hundreds of angry marchers tried to follow them. The demonstrators and Gardai pelted each other with bricks, stones and iron railings ripped from surrounding houses. The Gardai, behind riot shields, responded with baton charges, scattering the rioters across gardens and through hedges. Several cars parked on side streets were overturned and set on fire. The demonstrations were covered on all three major United States television networks.

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Doherty & Lynch die , Thousand protest in NYC 'mock royal wedding 

 The British murder camp of Long Kesh claimed the lives of two more Irish soldiers last weekend Kevin Lynch, an Irish National Liberation Army volunteer, died on Saturday, August 1 st, during the 71 st day of his hunger strike. Later, on the next day, Kieran Doherty, Irish Republican Army volunteer and elected member of the Free State Parliament, became the eighth victim of British policy toward the present hunger strikers. Kieran had been on hunger strike for 73 days. Statements from both Irish Northern Aid and the Belfast Republican Press Centre highlighted the intransigence of the Thatcher faction in the British government In addition, Richard McAuley of Sinn Fein decried the inaction and evasion by political forces in Ireland who have power to move Britain to action. He singled out the SDLP, the Catholic hierarchy and the Dublin government in particular. Hume, O'Fiaich and Fitzgerald must act now, McAuley said, as he condemned attempts to pressure prisoners to abandon the hunger strike.

 The IRA issued the following statement on Kevin Lynch: "The Irish Republican Army deeply regrets to learn of the death of Volunteer Kevin Lynch and we extend our sincerest condolences to his family and relatives. I.N.L.A. Volunteer Kevin Lynch was a brave and courageous soldier who willingly and without fear gave his life in the service of his comrades and the oppressed people of Ireland and their cause " Other statements were issued by Sinn Fein and Irish Northern Aid.

  The brave men remaining on hunger strike are conscious and while they remain so only they can make the decision to end hunger strike We wish to stress that we are 100% behind the prisoners'  five just demands and call on everyone of influence to put pressure on the British government to end their cruelty and to settle the prison dispute.  We feel that the British government should give the already conforming prisoners what they intend to give the protesting prisoners if the protest ends." The prisoners' Five Demands get 100% support from the Quinns as does the call for those with influence to put pressure on Prime Minister Thatcher to end British cruelty and settle the prison dispute. Anger at English pressure on hunger strikers' families spurred Alfie Doherty, father of murdered Kieran Doherty, to lash out at English intrigue. Three times in the week preceding Kieran's death, hunger strikers' families came on summons for meetings with Fathers Faul and Murray. The meetings proved to be nothing more than part of the English propaganda offensive, designed to exert pressure on the prisoners and on Republican movement leadership. Kieran's father emphasized that his son was elected TD on the basis of the prisoners' Five Demands. BBC twisting of an American TV network interview with Kieran' s mother also came in for condemnation in the Doherty family statement Disguising the family's support for Kieran in whatever decision he reached was the intended result of BBC selective cutting and editing of the interview.

Thousand protest in NY in mock royal wedding July 29th 1981

During the summer of the 1981 Long Kesh Hunger Strike, members of the British Royalty were pressed into service to show their flag in New York and hopefully ... click on the below link to view video

 (607) Irish Fáilte to Brit Royalty visit to New York, 1981 - YouTube

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Tom McElwee dies
 

Thomas Mc Elwee (became the ninth young Irishman to be murdered in Long Kesh- He died on Saturday, the eighth of August, on his sixty- second day of hunger strike. The young native of County Derry was a cSQsin of Francis Hughes, who had died on hunger strike in May. The murder drew strong reaction from all nationalist areas in the six counties and throughout the Irish Free State. His death also drew strong reaction from the Irish Republican Army and from Irish Northern Aid. The Irish Republican Army issued the following statement "Oglaigh na hEireann is deeply saddened to learn ofthe death of Volunteer Tom McElwee and we extend our sincerest sympathies to his family, relatives, friends and comrades. Tom was a quiet, unassuming young man, but a loyal and dedicated Republican. He gave his life for five just and reasonable demands and that other comrades and families need not go through the anguish that he and his family have. His loss is great. He will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him."
 

 Irish Northern Aid released the following statement "Thomas McElwee, a 23 year-old Irish Republican soldier, today became the ninth man to die on hunger strike in Britain's Long Kesh and the fifth man to die.  Nine men are now dead, including elected members of both the English and Irish Free State Parliaments. Yet Margaret Thatcher refuses even to negotiate. Such is Britain's colonial rule in Ireland. England's will must prevail at all costs, and the Irish need not be considered "

Twenty-three-year-old IRA Volunteer Thomas McElwee, from Bellaghy in South Derry, had  been imprisoned since December 1976, following a premature bomb explosion in which he lost an eye. He is a first cousin of the late Francis Hughes, who died after fifty-nine days on hunger-strike, on May 12th. One of the most tragic and saddening aspects of the current hunger-strike has been the close relationships between some of the hunger-strikers. Joe McDonnell, following his friend and comrade Bobby Sands on hunger-strike, and then into death, both having been captured on the same IRA operation in 1976. Paddy Quinn, now completing his sixth week on the fast, following his friend and comrade, the late Raymond McCreesh, on hunger-strike, both again having been captured on the same IRA operation, also in 1976. Elsewhere, similar close ties, parallels, between one hunger-striker and another: the same schools; the same streets; the same experiences of repression and discrimination. And for those families, relatives and friends most acutely conscious of the parallels, there is of course an even more intense personal sadness than for most, in the bitter tragedy of this hunger-strike. spent over half of his young life striving to achieve the liberation of this country.

But of all those close relationships, none can surely be as poignant as that between Thomas McElwee and his cousin, Francis Hughes: two dedicated republicans from the small South Derry village of Bellaghy, their family homes less than half-a-mile apart in the town- land of Tamlaghtduff, who were close friends in their boyhood years and who later fought side by side in the towns and fields of South Derry for the freedom of their country.

CHICAGO RALLY 7/25/81

There were five thousand people in Daley Center for the Rally for Peace with Justice Throughout Ireland. Mr. Neil Blaney, TD, was principal speaker. Along with other speakers were Martin GaJ- vin of Irish Northern Aid and Oliver Hughes, brother of Francis Hughes, one of the brave men who died on hunger strike. Mr. Blaney was piped onto the platform by pipers from the Shannon Rovers Pipe Band. Mr. Blaney raised a fist towards the office of the British Consul across the street and asked the crowd to bring pressure on President Reagan to influence Prime Minister Thatcher to withdraw the British from Ireland. Mr. Blaney said that Jack Lynch and Charles Haughey had lost their political influence because they had failed squarely on the issue of Irish unification. Garret FitzGerald will go the same way if he stands still and does nothing to get the British out of Ireland The rally was sponsored by the United Irish and American Society of Illinois, with the support of about 30 other groups. Despite the passage of a City Council Resolution marking the day, Mayor Jane Byrne did not attend.

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Michael Devine TENTH HUNGER STRIKER DIES

 Twenty-seven year old Michael Devine became the tenth young Irish man to die on hunger strike in Britain's Long Kesh, when he perished last Sunday on the 60th day of hunger strike. Devine, a native of Creggan in Derry City, was given a military funeral last Saturday, attended by approximately ten thousand mourners, including newly elected member of the British Parliament Owen Carron. Statements were immediately released by the Irish Republican Army and by Sinn Fein. The following statement was released by the Irish Republican Army: "The Irish Republican Army learned with deep regret of the death of lNLA Volunteer Michael Devine at 7:50 this morning on the 60th day of his hunger strike. To Michael's family, friends and comrades we extend our deepest sympathy. Michael's death, the tenth in the present hunger strike in Long Kesh at the hands of the British government, clearly demonstrates to even those who do not want to see, England's concept of democratic rule in Ireland English politicians, as always when it concerns Ireland, are so malevolent that they do not even realize that every death in Long Kesh is another nail in the coffin of British imperialism

 Meanwhile, Bernard Fox was named as the replacement for Paddy Quinn. Fox, age 30, is the youngest in a family of four boys. His mother is 68 years old and his father 70 years of age. Bernard served his time as a coach- builder and worked for over a year in the same firm along with the late Bobby Sands. At the time of his arrest he was a member of O'Donnell's Gaelic Athletic Social Club. Bernard joined the Republican movement in 1969 after the events in August of that year and became deeply involved, going'on the run' after the introduction of internment in 1971. During the 1972 truce he took part in talks with British Army Officers in Broadway Billet In November 1972 he was arrested and interned until March '74. He was continually harassed by the Brits and eventually arrested in October of that same year and taken to Castlereagh under an interim custody order signed by Don Concannon. There he was held for the nine days, during which time he and two other men went on hunger and thirst strike to obtain parcels* and exercise. These were giveii within forty-eight hours. He was then moved to Long Kesh and interned for the second time, only being released on the final day of internment in December 1975. Once again he went' on the run' and in November 1977 was finally arrested and charged with possession of timing devices in a car and causing explosions.

Micky Devine , from the Creggan in Derry city, was the third IN LA Volunteer to join the current H-Block hunger- strike, to the death if necessary. Kevin Lynch, who died last weekend, replaced the late Patsy O'Hara on the original four-strong fast, and then when the blanket men decided to escalate their strike to eight volunteers, Micky Devine was the additional INLA  man. He died on Thursday, August 20, becoming the tenth hunger striker to die in Long Kesh. Micky Devine took over as 0/C of the I NLA blanket men in March when the then 0/C, Patsy O'Hara, joined the hunger- strike; but Micky has retained this leadership post since he joined the strike himself.
 

The story of Micky Devine is not one of a republican 'super-hero', but of a typical Derry lad whose family suffered all of the ills of sectarian and class discrimination inflicted upon the Catholic working class of that city: poor housing, unemployment and lack of opportunity. Micky himself has had a rough life. His father died when Micky was a young lad; he found his mother dead when he was only a teenager; married young, his marriage ended in separation; he underwent four years of suffering 'on the blanket' in the H-Blocks; and, finally, the tortures of hunger- strike. In common with all the hunger- strikers the family, friends and former comrades of Micky Devine describe him as remarkably determined, and a descriptive term which re-occurs is that he is 'game' for anything. Easy-going, and a bit of a practical joker, he is also quiet, 'more of a listener', and 'would have to get to know you, before he would let himself go'.
 

Unusually for a young Derry Catholic, because of his family's tragic history (unconnected with 'the troubles'), Micky is not part of an extended family, and his only close relatives are his sister Margaret, seven years his elder, and now aged thirty-four, who 'thinks the world of him', and her husband, thirty- six-year-old Frank McCauley. Both praise Micky's courage and make a point of stating that they are extremely proud of him. Margaret states  'Anything Micky sets out to do, he completes'.  Frank adds: "If Micky takes on anything, he will see it through, no matter what it costs him. If he takes something into his head, he will go through a brick wall to prove he's right."

 Michael James Devine was born on May 26th 1954 in Spring- town camp, on the outskirts of Derry city, a former American army base from the second world war, which Micky himself describes as 'the slum to end all slums'. Hundreds of families - 99% (unemployed) Catholics, because of Derry corporation's sectarian housing policy - lived, or rather, existed, in huts, which were not kept in any decent state of repair by the corporation. One of Micky's earliest memories is of lying in a bed covered in old coats to keep the rain off the bed.  His sister, Margaret, recalls that the huts were 'okay' during the summer, but they leaked, and the rest of the year they were cold and damp.
 

Micky's parents, Patrick (known as Patsy), and Elizabeth (Lily) both from Derry city, had got married in late 1945, shortly after the end of the second world war, during which Patrick had served in the British merchant navy. He was a coalman by trade, but was unemployed for years. At first Patrick and Elizabeth lived with the latter's mother (a Protestant from Ballymoney, County Antrim!) in Ardmore, a village near Derry, where Margaret was born in April 1947. In early 1948 the family moved to Springtown camp where Micky was born in May 1954. Although Springtown was meant to provide only temporary accommodation, official lethargy and sectarianism dictated that such inadequate housing was good enough for Catholics and it was not until the early sixties that the camp was closed.
 

During the fifties, Creggan was built as a new Catholic ghetto, but it was 1960 before the Devines got their new home in Creggan, on the Circular Road. Micky had an unremarkable, but reasonably happy childhood. He went to Holy Child primary school In Creggan. At the age of eleven Micky started at St. Joseph's secondary school in Creggan, which he was to attend until he was fifteen. But soon the first sad blow befell him. On Christmas eve 1965, when Micky was aged only eleven, his father fell ill; and six weeks later, in February 1966, his father, who was only in his forties died of leukaemia. Micky had been very close to his father (particularly as the only son), and his premature death left Micky heart-broken. Five months later, in July 1966, his sister Margaret left home to get married, whilst Micky remained in the Devines' Circular Road home with his mother and granny. At school Micky was an average pupil, and had no notable interests, although he certainly enjoyed playing soccer. From those days there is an outstanding example of his determination, and of his tendency to be a bit of a loner (another common characteristic amongst the hunger- strikers). Micky, a keen soccer fan, supported Glasgow Rangers, and was the proud possessor of a Rangers' scarf! He claimed that Rangers were better than Celtic (the team traditionally supported by Irish Catholics), and therefore he supported them (despite their ties with Protestant loyalism). For his unusual and stubborn stance Micky - not surprisingly — used to be taunted and beaten by other boys, but he would never back down or recant his support.
 

He became a member of the James Connolly Republican Clubs, and then, shortly after internment, a member of the 1st Battalion of the Derry Brigade of the Official IRA a common enough path for young socialists in Derry in those days. Micky was interested in social issues, as well as defending the Bogside, and shooting Brits. 'Free Derry' had become known by that name after the successful defense of the Bogside in August 1969, but it really became 'Free Derry', in the form of concrete barricades etc., from internment day. Micky was amongst those armed volunteers who manned the barricades. Typical of his selfless nature (another common characteristic of the hunger-strikers), no task was too small for him. He was 'game' to do any job, such as tidying up the office. Young men, naturally enough, wanted to stand out on barricades with rifles: he did that too, but nothing was too menial for him, and he was always looking for jobs. 'Bloody Sunday', January 30th 1972, when British Paratroopers shot dead thirteen unarmed civil rights demonstrators in Derry {a fourteenth died later from wounds received), was a turning point for Micky. From then there was no turning back on his republican commitment and he gradually lost interest in his work, and he was to become a full-time political and military activist. Micky experienced the trauma of 'Bloody Sunday' at first hand. He was on that fateful march with his brother-in-law Frank and a group of fellows. Frank recalls: 'When the shooting started we ran, like everyone else, and when it was over we saw all the bodies being lifted." This slaughter confirmed to Micky that it was more than time to start shooting back 'How' he would ask, 'can you sit back and watch while your own Derry- men get shot down like dogs?'

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Thomas Ashe

Hunger-strike as a weapon of Irish political prisoners has been used since the beginning of this century when James Connolly first used it on his arrest in 1913 and secured his release. In 1915, the pacifist Francis Sheehy Skeffington successfully went on hunger-strike and was released after nine days. In a series of five articles, Patrick McGlynn traces the history of hunger- strike deaths in British and Free State Jails since then but prior to the 1981 hunger strikes, beginning with the death of Thomas Ashe and concluding with the death of Frank Stagg.

 The similarities in the long battle against criminalization by Irish political prisoners then and now stand out glaringly throughout the articles. The first Irishman to die on hunger- strike was Thomas Ashe who died at the age of thirty-two on September 25th 1917, as a result of being forcibly fed in Mountjoy jail, Dublin. Bom in Kinard, near Dingle in County Kerry, on January 12th 1885, Thomas Ashe learned the Irish language from his father and kept a life-long interest in Irish culture and history. Whilst training to be a teacher in County Waterford, Thomas Ashe became active in the Gaelic League", organizing Irish classes and feiseanna and at the same time began his involvement in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Sinn Fein. After qualifying as a teacher in 1907, Ashe spent a year in his native Kerry until he became principal of Corduff national school at Lusk in County Dublin, where he taught until Easter 1916. At Lusk he was closely involved in the Gaelic League, becoming a member of its governing body along with Sean MacDermott, Sean T. O'Kelly, Eamonn Ceannt and the O'Rahilly, who like Ashe were also members of the IRB.

 Thomas Ashe joined the Irish Volunteers after its formation in November 1913 and founded a unit in the Lusk area. By 1915, Ashe was training the local Volunteers on intensive military exercises and maneuvers, and by 1916 was officer commanding the fifth Dublin Battalion in that north county area known as Fingal. On Easter Monday 1916, on Pearse's orders, Ashe mobilized his battalion of seventy men, destroying enemy communications and, in particular, blowing up the Dublin to Belfast railway line. During the week he captured all the RIC barracks in the area and on the Friday of Easter Week moved on to Ashbourne in County Meath. The Ashbourne RIC garrison, surrounded by Ashe's men, quickly surrendered, but shortly afterwards the Volunteers were engaging a convoy of twenty RIC cars bearing eighty policemen approaching from Slane.

After five hours of fighting the RIC men scattered, leaving eleven of their number dead and twenty injured. Two of Ashe's Volunteers were killed in the battle. The following Sunday, having been victorious all week, Ashe received Pearse's general order to surrender and obeyed it. Thomas Ashe, lying in state in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, with an Irish Volunteer guard of honour, September 1917 Taken to Kilmainham jail, Thomas Ashe was court-martial led and sentenced to death. This was later commuted to penal servitude for life and he was transferred to Dartmoor prison in England, from where he was released in the general amnesty of June 1917. TRIAL Ashe immediately became active in reorganizing the Volunteers and was elected president of the IRB. But within a month a warrant was issued for his arrest following a speech made in Ballinalee, County Longford, on July 25th. He was arrested in Dublin on August 18th and taken to the Bridewell. His trial, over eight days, took the form of a court-martial in Mountjoy jail beginning on September 3rd, where, on often conflicting evidence of the 'mental notes' of RIC men, he was found guilty of a charge of "attempting to cause disaffection among the civilian population at Ballinalee, by urging them to form military societies, arm and train, and saying that he would call out his men as he did in 1916 if the opportunity arose again."

 Sentenced to two years hard labor, Ashe joined some forty other political prisoners then in Mountjoy. He immediately took the lead in refusing to be criminalized and they all refused to do prison work. Ashe refused to obey prison rules, for example, speaking to all he met during exercises. Two days after sentence, on September 13th, he was warned by the deputy governor to obey regulations but replied that he would not be treated as a criminal. On September 17th, Ashe was refused a mattress, and was forced to sleep on the floor. The same day the political prisoners presented the deputy governor with their demands for political status. These demands were: free association throughout the day; work of their own choice; separation from non-political prisoners; and to be allowed books, writing materials and more letters and visits. The political prisoners had decided that if these demands were not met within a fortnight, they would go on hunger-strike on October 1st. On September 20th, Ashe and his comrades were moved to another wing and confined to their cells. Later the same day, warders invaded the cells, assaulted the prisoners and removed everything from the cells down to the prisoners' boots. In response it was decided to begin the hunger- strike immediately.

 Austin Stack, the prisoners' O/C, instructed them that if force-fed they were not to endanger their lives by resisting, but were not to walk to the place where it would take place, insisting on being carried. In the next few days word of trouble in the jail spread, and crowds gathered outside. On Saturday 22nd September, an intervention by the Lord Mayor of Dublin resulted in furniture being returned to the cells. The next day force-feeding began. Force-feeding took the form of a tube from a pump being inserted through the mouth or nose into the stomach, whilst the other end of the pump was put into the vessel containing the food which was then pumped into the stomach. The operation lasted about ten minutes and each prisoner was force-fed twice each day. Thomas Ashe was forcibly fed only five times in all. The last time Ashe was force-fed was at 11.15 a.m. on Tuesday 25th September by a Dr. Lowe. On the way to the operating room Ashe said he was well but weak. The tube was put down his throat the wrong way causing him to cough violently. The tube was withdrawn and put down again.

 After eight minutes of force-feeding Ashe's lips turned blue and he collapsed. From bruises found on his neck afterwards it was obvious that his throat had been held tightly throughout. At twelve noon Ashe was taken to the prison hospital where his pulse was found to be weak, his breathing labored and his temperature low. Five hours later Thomas Ashe was transferred to the Mater hospital. As the evening progressed Ashe grew weaker and doctors predicted his imminent death. He told the two Capuchin priests who visited him, Fr. Albert and Fr. Augustine: "/ was splendid in the morning until forcibly fed. This forcible feeding upset me completely." The priests administered the Last Rites and Ashe, deteriorating rapidly, died at 10.30 p.m. The heavy British army guard left the hospital and the Irish Volunteers from Fingal moved in mounting a guard of honor over the body of their dead leader, now dressed in the Irish Volunteer uniform. When news of his death reached the jail his comrades expressed renewed determination to carry on the hunger-strike until all their demands had been conceded. Force- feeding continued until the day before Ashe's funeral when the Lord Mayor of Dublin visited Austin Stack and told him that the authorities would treat the prisoners as prisoners of war.

 Ashe's body was removed to Dublin's pro-cathedral and after a requiem mass was taken to the city hall, where it lay in state surrounded by an armed guard of Volunteers as thousands filed past to pay their last respects. On Sunday 30th September, people came from all over Ireland to attend his funeral which left the city hall at twelve noon. The coffin, draped in the tricolour and accompanied by its guard of honor, was followed by thousands, including the Lord Mayor and Archbishop of Dublin, and took four hours to reach Glasnevin cemetery. The coffin was carried to the graveside by six former political prisoners. After prayers and a short silence, three volleys rang out as a final salute to the dead soldier. A Fianna Eireann bugler sounded the Last Post. Michael Collins delivered the shortest of orations: "The volley you have just heard fired is the only tribute necessary over the grave of a dead Fenian." The coroner's jury, eleven days after Ashe's death, declared in accordance with the medical evidence, that Thomas Ashe's death had been caused by the treatment which he suffered in jail. The jury censured the British authorities and the deputy- governor of the prison, and it condemned forcible-feeding as an inhuman and dangerous operation. But many more Irishmen were to die on hunger-strike in the next sixty-four years.

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Terence MacSwiney  1879 - 1920,

During  the Tan War several IRA Volunteers died on hunger-strike, or from the effects of hunger-strike, in British jails in Ireland. The most well-known of those to die, Terence MacSwiney, in fact died in jail in Britain itself. In this second article of his five part series on IRA hunger-strikers (the first part was on Tomas Ashe), Patrick McGiynn details the events surrounding Mac Swiney's death. In part three he will cover the deaths of those Volunteers who died in Ireland during that period. In all the articles, the 1981 H-Block hunger- strikers are constantly brought to mind in the similarities, not only of the character, principles, and determination of those involved , but also of the unchanging brutal policy of the authorities both before and after death.

 Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, TD for mid-Cork and O/C of the IRA's Cork No. 1 Brigade, was arrested on August 12th 1920. The previous day a mass hunger-strike had begun by the republican prisoners in Cork jail and MacSwiney immediately joined it. Five days later he was transferred to Brixton prison in England, where he died on October 25th after seventy- five days on hunger-strike. Terence MacSwiney was born in Cork on March 28th 1879. One of nine children, he received his early education at the Christian Brothers' School. At the age of fifteen, owing to the illness and death of his father and the resultant financial difficulties at home, he began work in the offices of Dwyer & Co. in Cork as a trainee accountant. In 1907 he achieved an external degree in philosophy from Dublin University and the same year published his first book The Music of Freedom' — a long poem aimed at awakening in others his own desire for Irish freedom. Some of his extensive writings in the national papers were later published as his most well-known work 'Principles of Freedom'.

  In 1913, MacSwiney joined the Volunteers and two years later became full-time organizer for Cork. Following the Easter Rising in 1916, he was arrested along with all the other Cork Volunteers. Deported to Wakefield prison in England, he was released in the general amnesty at the end of that same year. The years immediately following, whilst he continued his role as organizer, were punctuated by arrests, releases and re-arrests. Whilst interned in Lincoln,  in England, in December 1918, he was elected Sinn Fein TD for mid-Cork. On his release in March 1919, he again became active as a Dail deputy, O/C of the IRA's Cork No. 1 Brigade, and a year later was elected Lord Mayor of Cork following the murder of Tomas MacCurtain by the British. On the night of August 12th 1920 Mac Swiney and ten others were arrested by British troops in. a raid on City Hall and all immediately joined the mass hunger-strike which had begun in Cork jail the previous day.
 

 On August 15th those arrested with MacSwiney were released, but on the following day he was brought before a court martial in Cork military barracks. He refused to recognize the authority of the court. The basis of four charges against him was a number of documents found in the City Hall. Although there was no direct evidence linking them to him, MacSwiney was nevertheless found guilty of being in possession of documents, 'the publication of which would be likely to cause disaffection to His Majesty'. MacSwiney was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but defiantly challenged the court: "/ wish to state that I will put a limit to the term of imprisonment you impose, because of the action I will take. I have taken no food since Thursday; therefore I will be free alive or dead in a month."

 The prolonged agony and sacrifice of Terence MacSwiney had begun. He was deported that night to England and conveyed to Brixton prison in London where his hunger-strike continued. Neither MacSwiney nor anyone else realized how long beyond a month his suffering would be dragged out, and, in fact, MacSwiney's fast was the longest hunger- strike ever. By September, as eleven men lay progressively weakening in Cork jail, it was mainly on the solitary figure of this defiant Irishman in Brixton prison that the eyes of the world were focused, believing him to be close to death. Foreign journalists flocked to London to get firsthand accounts of what was happening, and to Ireland to study the situation and the cause that could inspire such a sacrifice. MacSwiney was placed in the hospital wing of the prison and his relatives were allowed to be with him day and night.

 The Capuchin priest, Fr. Dominic, came over to join the family and visited MacSwiney each day to the end. Two nurses were in attendance at all times and doctors regularly visited him, including a weekly visit from the Home Office doctor, Dr. Griffith, who tried to persuade him to give up. Other visitors included a number of bishops. But to none did MacSwiney complain of anything at any time, despite the pains from his stomach, his violent headaches, his aching bones stripped of their protecting flesh, and the nights without sleep, all of which increased in severity as time went on; MacSwiney received Holy Communion each day and, a deeply religious man, spent some of each day in prayer for his family and his comrades in Cork. Because of the lack of experience of the long course of a hunger-strike, the British propaganda machine was able to pour out rumors, widely reported in the British press, that MacSwiney was secretly being brought food. One fanciful story had Fr. Dominic smuggling in food, on his daily visit, concealed in his beard!

On the seventieth day of his fast Mac Swiney became delirious and was very ill during the night. The following day, the prison doctor attempted to force-feed him, although his family objected. So intense was MacSwiney's resistance, that even when he was unconscious as the doctors attempted to feed him, his teeth remained clenched against it. Lacking food from the outside, his body sought it internally and the consumption of fat and tissue began after a few days and continued to the end. As the blood supply weakened, neuritis (a disease of the nervous system) set in, followed by severe heart attacks. Throughout, he suffered from acute headaches with dullness of vision leading to gradual blindness. On Monday morning, October 25th 1920, Fr. Dominic and Sean MacSwiney, a brother of Terence's, who were staying in the prison, were awakened and told that he was dying. They were refused permission to inform his other relatives. Fr. Dominic began reading the prayers for the dying. The prayers ceased. For a few moments they listened to the gasping breath of a dying man. In a little while the painful breathing faltered and stopped. At 5.40 a.m. Terence MacSwiney died, his heroic struggle had ended.

  On Wednesday 27th October, an inquest was held in the prison and that night Mac Swiney's body was delivered to his relatives. The remains were removed to Southwark cathedral where they were received by Archbishop Mannix, Thousands of people filed past the coffin to pay their last respects. On Thursday morning requiem mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Portsmouth. Afterwards, many thousands marched in procession to Euston station and thousands more lined the route. Headed by IRA Volunteers and a pipe band, the cortege included Archbishop Mannix and members of Dail Eireann and Cork corporation. From Euston the remains were taken by train to Holyhead. But the British government feared the effects of Terence Mac Swiney's body arriving in Dublin and travelling down through the country to his native Cork. Consequently, at Holyhead, British troops seized the body from the relatives and transferred it by sea directly to Cork. . The Cork IRA Volunteers were out in force to meet the body and it was brought to the City Hall for a lying-in state where thousands more filed past to pay their respects. On Sunday 31st October after Requiem Mass at the cathedral, the funeral took place to St. Finbarr's cemetery, where Terence MacSwiney was laid to rest in the republican plot beside his friend and comrade Tomas MacCurtain.

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