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The Hunger Strikers – Fact and Fiction (introduction)
Whatever your feelings on the Hunger Strikers of 1981, there's no doubt that they've had a big influence on a large number of people. The question is whether the people that they've influenced have been influenced by events as they happened, or by the myths and romance that has grown up around the hunger strikers. As Sinn Fein and republicans across Northern Ireland recognise the 25th anniversary of the Ulster hunger strikes, it seems only appropriate that the rest of us take the opportunity to learn about something that is clearly very important to our neighbours.
In a series of special posts in the near future, Everything Ulster will be taking a closer look at the events surrounding the hunger strikes and the men involved; trying to separate fact from fiction.
Follow up:
The posts are currently a work in progress, but at the moment I would like to acknowledge the following sources:
- Wikipedia - fantastic online encyclopaedia
- Ireland's Own: Hunger Strikes - ever shameless in propagandising "the struggle"
- Lark Spirit: Hunger Strikers "tribute" - more unbiased romanticising
- Hunger Strike 81 - run by a group calling themselves the "H-Block Committee"
- Self-Inflicted - while researching I stumbled on this, by Peter Robinson, published around the time of the hunger strikes