why did bobby sands go on hunger strike

More than 100,000 people attended Bobby Sands' funeral in Belfast. Verdict. By this time, the “political prisoner” status of those charged with acts of terrorism had been removed, sparking five years of protest by convicted paramilitary prisoners. Determined not to be double-crossed again, the new Officer Commanding (OC) of the republican prisoners, 27-year-old Bobby Sands, launched a second hunger strike with a crucial difference … Bobby Sands was 27 years old when he lost his life on May 5, 1981, during a hunger strike, protesting the end to “political prisoner” status for IRA prisoners… Bobby Sands, byname of Robert Gerard Sands, Irish Roibeard Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh, (born March 9, 1954, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland—died May 5, 1981, HM Prison Maze, near Lisburn, Northern Ireland), officer of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who rose to international prominence in 1981 when he embarked on a fatal hunger strike while imprisoned for activities related to the IRA’s armed campaign … And first of all, Bobby Sands would go on. Intimidation followed Sands throughout his life and, at 18, he was forced out of his apprenticeship as a bus builder because of threats. The 1981 Hunger Strike. This was followed in 1978 by a dirty protest after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots). Plan to hold 10,000 strong parade in honor of the 1981 Hunger Strikers seen as sick and insulting to some locals. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organize educational and recreational pursuits; the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week; full restoration of remission lost through the protest. Nelson Mandela was the first Black president of South Africa, elected after time in prison for his anti-apartheid work. Sands stood as the Anti-H Block candidate. In prison, Sands embarked on a long hunger strike that led to his death. Three further strikers were to die in the next two weeks: Francis Hughes, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara. In October 1972 he was arrested for the first time for the possession of four handguns and spent the next three years in Long Kesh prison where he was regarded as a political prisoner. Although unable to prove Sands’ involvement in the bomb attack, he and the other three passengers in the car at the time of his arrest were each sentenced to 14 years in prison for the presence of a handgun involved in the gun-battle in the car. Serial killer Bobby Joe Long brutally murdered 10 women in 1984. Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals to maximise publicity, with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months. Once again, the family was threatened out of their home in 1972 and after 18 months of pressure, they relocated to the newly built Twinbrook estate on the fringe of nationalist West Belfast. The long history of the Irish hunger strike New exhibition in Kilmainham Gaol tells the story from Thomas Ashe to Bobby Sands Thu, Sep 21, 2017, 01:00 Bobby Sands was the first of 10 Northern Irish Republican hunger strikers who lost their lives in a bid … Many years after the ending of the hunger strikes and blanket protest a prison officer said: “At first we thought they were dirty animals. Sands’ election, in particular, was seen as a massive propaganda victory for the movement. When it became apparent that the British Government had no intention of upholding their commitment to meeting these demands, a second hunger protest began. Just five days after Sands began his strike the independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Frank Maguire, died, which resulted in a by-election for the constituency. After a short while, this gesture sparked an alarming amount of support from the Irish people. Ten of those hunger strikers died -- one, Bobby Sands, was elected to Parliament on his deathbed -- while 13 others survived, including one man who fasted for 70 days. More deaths followed: Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Thomas McElwee, and Michael Devine. The 1981 Irish hunger strike started with Sands refusing food on 1 March 1981. He was the leader when the second hunger strike began on March 1, 1981. The hunger strike was a last effort by the inmates to be recognized as political prisoners. Unable to move authorities to give in to his requests, and unwilling himself to end his hunger strike, Sands's health began to deteriorate. • 1980 hunger strike march, Belfast • 1980 hunger strike march, Dublin. Sands's contention was that he and others like him, who were serving prison sentences, were actually prisoners of war, not criminals as the British government insisted. INTRODUCTION. He had endured 65 days without food and had spent his last two days in a coma. At an early age, Sands's life was affected by the sharp divisions that shaped Northern Ireland. "We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime,” she said. During the strike, he was elected a Member of Parliament. On March 1, 1981–the fifth anniversary of the British policy of criminalization–Bobby Sands launched a new hunger strike. Loyalist intimidation proved to be a theme in Sands' life. Not long after, he and his family had to move again, as a result of political trouble. Read the Introduction to ‘Hunger Strike’, a book of essays published by the Bobby Sands Trust on the 25th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike. As more families announced their intent to allow medical intervention to save their sons, the strike was officially called off on October 3 but not before a total of ten hunger strikers lost their lives. On 1 March 1981, Bobby Sands began the first day of his hunger strike … The steady number of conflicts pushed Sands to join the Republican Movement in 1972. *Originally published in May 2017, updated in May 2020. Sands grows up in Belfast under the cloud of nationalist … Three other republican prisoners at the Maze prison remain on hunger strike. He led the strike. Only when Bobby Sands was elected to a vacant parliamentary seat in Fermanagh and South Tyrone while on the 39th day of his hunger strike did the British press wake up. He was elected Member of Parliament during the strike. The result – … Bobby Sands - The first of 10 republican prisoners to die in the Maze prison in Northern Ireland in 1981. On his release in 1976, Sands returned to his original role with his local IRA unit as well as working to tackle the social issues that faced the Twinbrook area as a community activist. Bobby Fischer was a record-setting chess master who became the youngest player to win the U.S. The further deaths of Joe McDonnell and Martin Hurson caused concern amongst the hunger strikers' families and ratcheting up the pressure to find a way to end the strike. The first hunger strike began in October 1980. They began protesting on the streets, standing in solidarity with Sands’ motive. The strike was planned to last for 66 days. Bobby sands dies after 66 days on hunger strike. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! In late 1976, authorities arrested Sands again, this time in connection with a bombing that had taken place at a large furniture company and an ensuing gun battle. His family had succeeded in living reasonably peacefully in the area by keeping their own religion under wraps. Their demands ranged from allowing prisoners to wear their own clothes to permitting visits and mail, all of which were central in improving the inmates' way of life. “Crime is crime is crime, it is not political.". They were seeking political prisoner status. On September 16, 1932, in his cell at Yerwada Jail in Pune, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi begins a hunger strike in protest of the British government’s decision to The family of Patrick McGeown agreed to medically intervene to save his life after 42 days on hunger strike. By Danny Morrison. https://www.biography.com/activist/bobby-sands. Malcolm X was an African American civil rights leader prominent in the Nation of Islam. At the age of 18, he was forced out of his job as an apprentice car builder. Outside the prison in a major publicity coup, Sands was nominated for Parliament and won the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election. At the age of 10, he was forced to move with his family out of their neighborhood due to repeated intimidation by loyalists. Bobby Sands dies • Demonstration in Paris on the day that Bobby Sands died. Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was born in Belfast, Ireland on March 9, 1954. During this time, Sands used his imprisonment to learn Irish and read widely. Why Bobby Sands starved to death By Hazel Croft TWENTY YEARS ago, on 5 May 1981, Bobby Sands died after 66 days on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland. The 1981 Irish Hunger Strike was a hunger protest in Northern Ireland by Irish republican prisoners during the Troubles.During the protest 10 prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army had starved themselves to death in the hunger strike. At 18 years of age, Sands joined the Republican movement, writing, “My life now centered around sleepless nights and standbys dodging the Brits and calming nerves to go out on operations. But the British government was still resisting and on 5 May, after 66 days on hunger strike, Sands died. The strike began to falter on July 31 when the mother of Paddy Quinn requested medical intervention to save his life. The protest against the withdrawal of the “Special Category Status” began with a blanket protest in 1976 in which prisoners refused to wear prison uniforms. After 66 days on hunger strike, Bobby Sands lost his life on May 5, 1981. His ties to the movement soon captured the attention of the authorities, and later that year, he was arrested and charged with possessing firearms in his house. Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands, Irish nationalist and member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, dies on hunger strike while imprisoned at Long Kesh Prison on May 5, 1981.. Born in Belfast on March 9, 1954, Sands is the oldest of four children born to John and Rosaleen Sands, and the couple’s first son. When his case finally came to trial in September 1977 he refused to recognize the court, as he had previously done when first arrested. He took only water and … "I was only a working-class boy from a Nationalist ghetto," Sands later wrote about his childhood. At time of his death, Sands was married to Geraldine Noade, with whom he had one son, Gerard. Sands, 27, has served four years of a 14-year sentence for possessing firearms. Although Thatcher seemed to have defeated the strike, she became a figure of Republican hatred and IRA recruitment was boosted by the heroic nationalism of the strike’s martyrs. But the people stood by us. A hero among his fellow nationalists, Sands was elected as a Member of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. As a prisoner, Sands's stature only grew. Prisoners refused to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. Read more: Bernie Sanders wrote to Margaret Thatcher about the IRA hunger strikers. Sands was the oldest of four children born to John and Rosaleen Sands, and the couple's first son. After weathering a brutal interrogation and then a court proceeding that offered up questionable evidence connecting Sands and three others to the attack, a judge sentenced Sands to 14 years in prison at Her Majesty's Prison's Maze, a facility used to house Republican prisoners from 1971 until 2000, located just outside of Belfast. Only days after slipping into a coma, on the morning of May 5, 1981, Sands died from malnutrition due to starvation. Captured by the RUC following a bomb attack and a gun-battle, Sands and six others were taken to Castlereagh Detention Centre and brutally interrogated, but Sands refused to give any information other than his name and address. He'd become so fragile over his final weeks, he spent his final days on a water bed to protect his deteriorating and fragile body. Eventually, the British government gave proper political recognition to the prisoners, many of them earning their release under the 1998 Good Friday agreement. Bobby Sands grew up in Belfast under the cloud of nationalist and loyalist divisions. The people not only opened the doors of their homes to lend us a hand but they opened their hearts to us. HIS death in 1981 after 66 days on a prison hunger strike made headlines around the world. Bobby Riggs was an American tennis champion best known for facing women's star Billie Jean King in the 1973 'Battle of the Sexes.'. The withdrawal of “Special Category Status” meant that these prisoners were no longer treated similarly to prisoners of war – they now had to wear prison uniforms and carry out prison work. It is axiomatic that anyone lacking in knowledge of the times or the event would only remember Bobby Sands. He won the election beating the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West to gain a seat in the British House of Commons. Despite the apparent initial failure of the hunger strike and the hunger strike's main figures, especially Sands, became heroes among the Republican movement and led to further support for Sinn Féin as a mainstream political party. There is grave concern for 25-year-old convicted murderer Francis Hughes, who began his strike 15 days after Sands. His strike sparked international scrutiny in how the British Government treated prisoners in Northern Ireland: at the time, Mayor of Vermont, Bernie Sanders, even wrote a letter to Margaret Thatcher urging her to "stop the abuse, humiliation and degrading treatment of the Irish prisoners now on hunger strikes in Northern Ireland". "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Bobby Sands was 27 years old when he lost his life on May 5, 1981, during a hunger strike, protesting the end to “political prisoner” status for IRA prisoners. But how effective is a hunger strike as a political statement? His sacrifice was to inspire a new generation of republicans and the whole world was to see how Britain behaved towards those who would not bow down to her will. 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