Conviction: attempted murder, possession of rifle & ammunition, membership of a proscribed organisation Sentence: 14 years Joined Hunger Strike: 22nd March Suicided 21st May The 7th child of 8 in a family from Carnlough, Co. Armagh, Raymond McC… more »

Conviction: Murder Sentence: Life Joined Hunger Strike: 15th March Suicided: 12th May From Bellaghy in the south of Co. Londonderry, Hughes was once described by the police as the most wanted man in Northern Ireland. His father was a farmer and for… more »

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 Newto… more »

Having posted the introduction to my hunger strikers series and a first post looking at the background and events surrounding the hunger strikes, questions remain. Who were the 10 men who chose death rather than serve out their sentences like any other… more »

Growing up I only ever had, like most unionists I imagine, a very basic understanding of what the hunger strikes and blanket protests were for, ie the republican terrorists didn't like the thought of being treated like the other criminals in prison at th… more »

A generation of Republicans has already grown up idolising the 10 men prepared to die rather than face their sentences 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.… more »

I feel I should layout my stall from the outset here. I'd just like to say a a big f**k you to all those people who utter the words "middle class" with the same contempt most of us reserve for violent criminals and sectarian or racist bigots. Now that's… more »

One of Sinn Fein, republicanism and Irish American's big lies is that Northern Ireland is in some kind of state of military occupation; a colonial outpost where locals are kept down through force. I'm not making this up - living in Northern Ireland it's… more »

Finding a good journalist in Northern Ireland seems to be incredibly difficult, as illustrated by Jim Gracey's article in today's Sunday Life. It's been obvious for some time now that Gracey is pushing the Maze agenda, but today he gave a free platform t… more »

Last week the GAA Tyrone County Board Chairman Pat Darcy, while playing down the significance of his organisation's practice of naming clubs and trophies after terrorist murderers, let slip a simple prejudice all to common among the GAA fraternity and of… more »