May 5, 1981

[Ciaran]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Please correct me if I am wrong. I was under the impression that Bobby Sands was arrested for having guns in his home, and being in the IRA. He was born Irish Catholic, and Republican, but changed his view.

He didn't change his views. Right until his death, he was a member of the IRA, a militant terrorist organisation that has butchered innocent men, women and children of all religions and none. He advocated "armed struggle" right until his death.

The IRA was, and is, an evil organisation. There can be no ambiguity about that.

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

And that there were only 5 demands of the starving prisoners:

1. not to have to wear prison uniforms;

2. not to have to perform prison work;

3. the right to socialize with other prisoners (were they in isolation?), and to organize educational and recreational pursuits;

4. the right to have 1 visit, 1 parcel letter, and 1 parcel per week;

5. full restoration of what was lost thru their protest.

The demands were effectively to put these prisoners onto a "prisoner of war" footing whereas, under Margaret Thatcher, they were being treated as "normal criminals". This was a deliberate policy of Thatcher i.e. to ensure that these terrorists were viewed as criminals and their behaviour was viewed as criminal activity. Importantly, this applied equally to the loyalist terrorists as to the republican terrorists and they are both sides of the same coin in my opinion.

Thatcher was absolutely right in this conviction although the way that it was managed largely backfired in the short-term in Northern Ireland.

That said, after the immediate anger dissapated, right until the IRA and loyalist ceasefires in 1994, the paramilitary supporting political parties continued to win very few votes from the electorate (in other words, they had little popular support from within the communities that they terrorised).

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Sands died 66 days after his starvation started. I am not sure of what impact this had on Europe or even in the States following his death.

I don't think his death will have had any impact on the States or any part of Europe outside of Northern Ireland. Ultimately, the impact of the hunger strikes was to further weaken the Union between Great Britian and Northern Ireland as Westminster didn't, and doesn't, want the hassle of trying to deal with the Northern Ireland troubles and does not want the fall-out on the international stage that this type of episode causes.