I written on the 1981 Long Kesh hunger strike before, and
have even included this information, but I’ve never focused on it. The information comes from articles written
by Richard O’Rawe, Anthony McIntyre, and Carrie Twomey, as well as the results
of a study in which the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) participated.
On 1 March 1981, republican (Irish Republican Army, IRA) and
republican socialist (Irish National Liberation Army, INLA) political prisoners
in the H-Blocks at Long Kesh prison in Northern Ireland began a staggered
hunger strike. This meant that rather
than have all the volunteers go at once, one man would begin, then another a
week later, then another a week after that, and so on.
This was not done lightly.
It came only after five years of many prisoners living in nothing but a
blanket and three years of not washing and being forced to piss in the floor of
their cells and smear their shit on the walls.
The prisoners picked 1 March as the day to begin because that was the anniversary
of order withdrawing Special Category Status from republican and loyalist
prisoners in 1976.
(There were, by the
way, around fifty loyalist prisoners on the blanket in addition to the over
three republican and republican socialist prisoners on the blanket.)
The hunger strikers had five demands:
(1) the right not to wear a prison uniform;
(2) the right not to do prison work;
(3) the right of free association with other prisoners, and
to organize educational and recreational pursuits;
(4) the right to one visit, one letter, and one parcel per
week;
(5) full restoration of remission of sentence lost through
the protest.
Bobby Sands, up to that point OC for the IRA prisoners, took
the first watch.
Blanketman Bik McFarlane succeeded him as OC, with blanketman
Richard O’Rawe as the PRO. Rab Collins
was OC for the INLA prisoners.
Francie Hughes, also of the IRA, followed him on 15
March. Patsy O’Hara of the INLA and
Raymond McCreesh of the IRA joined them on 22 March.
Bobby was elected MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone on 9 April. But in addition to laying the groundwork for
what followed, it had no effect other than steeling Thatcher’s stubbornness.
Bobby died on 5 May, after 66 days. Joe McDonnell of the IRA joined his comrades
on 8 May.
Francie Hughes died on 12 May after 59 days. Brendan McLaughlin joined his comrades on 14
May.
Patsy O’Hara Raymond McCreesh both died on 21 May after 61
days. Kieran Doherty of the IRA joined
McDonnell on 22 May, and Kevin Lynch of the INLA joined them on 23 May.
Brendan was taken off hunger strike after 12 days when he
suffered a perforated ulcer and internal bleeding on 26 May. Martin Hurson of the IRA joined his comrades
on 28 May .
Tom McElwee of the IRA joined his comrades on 8 June.
On 11 June, hunger striker Kieran Doherty of the IRA and
blanketman Paddy Agnew of the IRA were elected TD's in the Republic of Ireland.
Paddy Quinn of the IRA joined his comrades on 15 June. Mickey Devine of the INLA joined his comrades
on 22 June. Laurence McKweon of the IRA
joined his comrades on 29 June.
On 5 July, through intermediary Brendan Duddy (codenamed
“Mountain Climber”), Thatcher’s government offered the prisoners the right to
wear their own clothes, have remission restored, more visits and letters, have prison
work redefined to include educational and cultural activities, though no free
movement within the wings. Amazed, the
prisoner leadership of the IRA (Bik McFarlane, OC, and Richard O’Rawe, PRO)
agreed to accept, conditioned on the approval of the IRA leadership outside.
At this point, Joe McDonnell, Kieran Doherty, Kevin Lynch, Martin
Hurson, Tom McElwee, Paddy Quinn, Mickey Devine, and Laurence McKweon were on the
hunger strike. Joe, who had started his watch
on 8 May, was near death.
After word passed outside to Gerry Adams, OC of the IRA’s
Northern Command, and his “Kitchen Cabinet”:
Martin McGuinness (COS of the IRA), Danny Morrison (publicity director for
the IRA and for Sinn Fein, its political arm), Tom Hatley (Sinn Fein), and Jim
Gibney (Sinn Fein). They vetoed the
prisoners’ acceptance and ordered them to continue. They gave the excuse
that it more was needed, but the real reason was that Adams and the rest want
to keep up political support for the upcoming August by-election for Westminster
to fill the seat vacated at the death of Bobby Sands.
Adams and his Kitchen Cabinet kept the contents from the
leadership of the IRSP (political wing of the INLA), who would have ordered
their members off the strike had they known, as well as from the republican candidate
for the seat, Owen Carron. They also
ordered McFarlane and O’Rawe not to disclose the offer to the volunteers on
hunger strike.
Joe died in the middle of these “negotiations”. The hunger strike continued. New volunteers joined. Young men kept dying.
Owen Carron, Sinn Fein’s Anti-H-block/Proxy Political
Prisoner candidate, won the 20 August by-election for Bobby’s Fermanagh-South
Tyrone seat in a landslide.
The IRA and INLA volunteers still on hunger strike called it
off themselves on 3 October.
After the hunger strike ended, the British government,
quietly and in stages, fulfilled all five of the prisoners’ demands, though not
in writing.
Because of their playing politics, their selfish ambition,
or at least acquiescence to Adams’ ambition, Joe, Martin, Kieran, Kevin, Tom,
and Mickey died. Paddy and Laurence
didn’t die because they were removed from the hunger strike by their families
after they lapsed into unconsciousness.
Adams and his Kitchen Cabinet, not Maggie Thatcher, are responsible for
the deaths of those six men.
In other words, six republican prisoners died because Adams
and his Kitchen Cabinet were more interested in ephemeral political gain than
in the health, welfare, and lives of those prisoners. Of all the sins he and they may have
committed in the course of the Troubles, this gross betrayal, the occurrence of
which is beyond the shadow of a doubt, stands at the top.
Danny Morrison announced the Provisional Republican Movement’s
“Armalite and ballot box” strategy in November 1981.
The story of the secret offer on 5 July 1981 first surfaced
in O’Rawe’s 2005 account called Blanketman. Widely denounced by the Provisional
Republican leadership, O’Rawe’s highly detailed notes at the time were released
along with a number of papers dating from the time and proved his assertions of
what happened 100% accurate.
The moral of the story is this: for prisoners on hunger
strike, keep the control and negotiations in your own hands. Also, that blind faith in your leaders, in
1981, 1985, or any other time at all, will get you killed, and maybe others
along with you. Accept no gods, follow no
masters.
Tiocfaidh ar la, Rooz-e ma khahad amad, Notre jour viendra,
Thig ar latha, Saya'ty yawmana, Our day will come
No comments:
Post a Comment