On 7th May 1981 an estimated 100,000 people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands (Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh) in Belfast. The size of the crowd reflected the impact the hunger strike was having on the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland.
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Today in Labor History May 5, 1981: Bobby Sands (1954-1981) died, ending his 66-day hunger strike. Sands was an Irish political prisoner and member of Parliament who had been locked up in the notoriously brutal Maze Prison near Belfast. The strike was an attempt to get the British government to grant political prisoner status to Nationalist inmates, rather than treating them as common criminals.
Bobby Sands (Robert Gerard Sands - Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh) was born on 9th March 1954 in Dunmurry, County Antrim. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. He died as a result of the hunger strike on 5 May 1981.
Continued thread
Bobby Sands (Robert Gerard Sands) was born on 9th March 1954 in Dunmurry, County Antrim. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. He died as a result of the hunger strike on 5 May 1981. 2/2
Rugadh Roibeard Ó Seachnasaigh ar Ráth Cúil i mBaile na Mainistreach i dTuaisceart Éireann ar an 9ú lá de Mhí Márta 1954. Bhí sé ar dhuine de na Poblachtánaigh Éireannacha a fuair bás le linn na mórstailce ocrais ar an gCeis Fhada i dtús na 1980í. 1/2
Today in Labor History March 1, 1981: Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began his hunger strike at HM Prison Maze. He was in prison for his role in the Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in 1976. During the hunger strike, he was elected to parliament. 10 prisoners died from starvation during the strike, including Sands. 100,000 people attended his funeral.
Continued thread
His death provoked strong anti-British, pro-Irish republican reactions around the world. The Iranian government renamed Winston Churchill Boulevard, the location of the British Embassy in Tehran, to Bobby Sands Street. This forced the embassy to move its entrance door to Ferdowsi Street to avoid using Bobby Sands Street on its letterhead. 2/2
Cuireadh tús le stailc ocrais Phoblachtach na hÉireann 1981 nuair a dhiúltaigh Bobby Sands bia ar 1 Márta 1981.
The 1981 Irish Republican hunger strike started with Bobby Sands (Roibeárd Ó Seachnasaigh) refusing food on 1st March 1981. During Sands' strike, he was elected to the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate. Sands died on 5th May 1981 in the Maze's prison hospital after 66 days on hunger strike, aged 27. 1/
On 7th May 1981 an estimated 100,000 people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands (Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh) in Belfast. The size of the crowd reflected the impact the hunger strike was having on the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland.
May 5, 1981 - Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison (aka Long Kesh); it was his 66th day without food.
He had just been elected by a narrow margin to a seat in the British Parliament for the district of Fermanagh and South Tyrone while still serving the last of a 14-year sentence for possession of firearms.
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On May 5th, 1981 Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh (Robert Gerard Sands) known as Bobby Sands, died after a 66 day hunger strike at the The Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Sands was a leader with the Provisional IRA and instrumental in the fight for Irish independence and unity.
Sands famously said: “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children,” which was painted on an apartheid wall in Gaza.
Bobby Sands (Robert Gerard Sands - Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh) was born on 9th March 1954 in Dunmurry, County Antrim. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. He died as a result of the hunger strike on 5th May 1981.
Continued thread
Following Sands’ success the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981, which prevented prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in UK elections. This law was quickly introduced so in order to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament. 2/2
On 9th April 1981 Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands (Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh) was elected to Westminster in the Fermanagh/South Tyrone by-election, while on hunger strike in Long Kesh Prison, as MP for the constituency. 1/2
Bobby Sands (Robert Gerard Sands - Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh) was born on 9th March 1954 in Dunmurry, County Antrim. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. He died as a result of the hunger strike on 5 May 1981.
Today in Labor History March 1, 1981: Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began his hunger strike at HM Prison Maze. He was in prison for his role in the Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in 1976. During the hunger strike, he was elected to parliament. 10 prisoners died from starvation during the strike, including Sands. 100,000 people attended his funeral.
