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Hunger Striker Profile 1: Bobby Sands
Went Hungry 1st March
Suicided 5th May
The most famous hunger striker, idolised by republicans across Northern Ireland (he was even compared to Jesus in the discussion pages at Wikipedia), Robert Gerard Sands was born and raised in Newtownabbey, alhough his family were forced to move more than once due to intimidation by loyalist paramilitaries. At the age of 18 (in 1972) he joined the IRA. He was captured that same year and interned until 1976: the year the government ended the policy of internment.
On his release he went back to his family who were now living in west Belfast. He also returned to active service with the IRA. He was only out of prison for a year when he was arrested for possession of a firearm. He was charged with other offences, including organising a bombing which had happened nearby, but was not convicted due to a lack of evidence. He was, however, convicted for possession of the firearm and sentenced to 14 years.
Bobby Sands was newly made IRA commander in the Maze when he started refusing to eat on 1st March 1981. Shortly afterwards the MP for Fermanagh & South Tyrone died and Sands was nominated – he was elected by a narrow margin on 9th April as MP for the constituency. 3 weeks later he succeeded in starving himself and was pronounced dead in the prison hospital. The announcement of his demise led to riots across nationalist areas of Northern Ireland and ensured the decades of idolation by young republicans and many MOPEs worldwide, from the USA, to Iran, through Twinbrook.