Ten IRA and INLA hunger-strikers die between 5 May and 12 August; all but one of the men were in their twenties, the youngest, Thomas McElwee, being 23 years of age. The hunger strike had started on March 1st 1981 after years of the prisoners being on the blanket (blanket protest) and the failure of […]
On the 5th February 1981, republican prisoners in Long Kesh issued a statement to the British government that unless the prisoners were awarded special category status, there could be further hunger strikes. There had been several smaller strikes in the Maze and Armagh Women’s Prison previously following the tradition of Thomas Ashe, Terence MacSwiney, Frank […]
Ten IRA and INLA hunger-strikers die between 5 May and 12 August; all but one of the men were in their twenties, the youngest, Thomas McElwee, being 23 years of age. The hunger strike had started on March 1st 1981 after years of the prisoners being on the blanket (blanket protest) and the failure of […]