Irish Left Archive

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Digital collection of political material from the Irish Left.

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Irish Left Archive
@ila@leftarchive.ie

The 1981 hunger strikes began on the 1st of March, when Bobby Sands began refusing food. A total of ten people died before the strike ended in October.

Contemporary documents from the National H-Block / Armagh Committee, People's Democracy, IRSP and others are in our collection here: https://www.leftarchive.ie/subject/2692/

Event - Hunger Strikes, 1980/81

Irish Left Archive

Scanned text, reading: On Thursday 5th February seven weeks after the ending of a fifty-three day hunger-strike in the H-Blocks at Long Kesh, and a nineteen day hunger-strike by women prisoners at Armagh prison, a joint statement from both sets of prisoners was issued announcing another hunger-strike to begin on March 1st. The statement threatened that the prisoners would strike 'to death if necessary' to achieve recognition as political prisoners and a status in accord with that recognition. The prisoners' statement ended weeks of speculation that a settlement to the four-and-a-half-year-long protest was possible and confirmed for the prisoners and their supporters that the British reneged on the hunger-strike settlements of December 18th last.
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