Contours of Conflict: The Prisons, 1972--79 -- Mrs Thatcher's Northern Ireland Policy -- The First Hunger Strike Begins -- The Collapse of the First Hunger Strike -- Stand-Off -- The Second Hunger Strike Begins -- Digging In -- Persuading the British -- Deal or No Deal? -- A Final Push -- A War of Attrition -- The End
Summary
The hunger strikes of 1980-81 were a confrontation between British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the iron will of Irish republican prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh, in an attempt to break the British policy of criminalising paramilitary prisoners. The prisoners' ultimate demand, to be granted a 'special category status' that distinguished them from other prisoners, led to two hunger strikes. The first, in 1980, ended without success for the prisoners; the second, led by Bobby Sands, resulted in ten prisoners starving themselves to death. The
