1981 remembered

[seafoid]

What did the hunger strikers die for ?  Were they any more effective than Wolfe Tone?  Ultimately Thatcher beat all her enemies. She destroyed the union movement, the miners, and large chunks of British industry.  The Provos weren't alone.

[Nally Stand]

When the Strike ended, their five demands were soon granted (most within three days). That wouldn't have been the case without the hunger strike. Some of the Hunger Strikers would have known from the outset that they would not survive, but were content to continue for their fellow prisoners. Bobby Sands said he did not want to die but deep down knew he would not survive as he famously stated that Britain/Thatcher would "need her pound of flesh". The prison chaplain at the time of the Hunger Strike came to visit Bobby Sands in his cell not long after he had begun his fast. The Priest sought to question Bobby on the morals of his hunger strike, Bobby's only response was to quote the bible: "Greater Love Than This Hath No Man, Than to Lay Down His Life for his Friends". So I think at it's most basic level, they died for the rights of their own comrades in the H Blocks. On a wider level, they would have been well aware that in doing so, they would not only be shining a light on Thatcher's policies and on the brutality in Long Kesh, but would have been regarding it as an extension of the Irish Republican fight for Irish Reunification. The possibilities of Republican success at elections really only came about thanks to the elections of Bobby Sands as an MP, and of Kieran Dohety and Paddy Agnew as TDs during the Strike.

[Ulick]

When the Strike ended, their five demands were soon granted (most within three days). That wouldn't have been the case without the hunger strike.

I'm not so sure of that. On reading Laurence McKeown's book he seems to say that the demands were granted after the prisoners used alternative strategies to wreak the system via the pretence of working it. For example, free association was granted after psychological intimation of loyalist prisoners caused them to refuse to leave their cells. The Brits were only to glad to concede the demands away from the glare of publicity but because the existing set-up was made unworkable not because of the Hunger Strike. Thatcher would have quite happily let another 10 die if needed. However, I would say that the Hunger Strikes were unavoidable in the circumstances. The conditions the men had been living in since '76 was not tenable and things had to be brought to a head.

[4father]

The National Hunger Strike commemoration should be free of party politics.  It and the hunger strikers memory has been hijacked by SF.  Often people are put off going because it is seen as a SF rally.

Well then you organise one and see how many turn up.SF only party who have always held commemorations even the IRSP who had 3 vols who died on hunger strike fail to have any worthwhile events to commemorate them.Their memory has not been hijacked as Sinn Fein have always remembered them and always will.It was a fantastic event yesterday with family members, fellow hunger strikers and blanket men present long may it continue.

That's not the point my friend.  As an Irish republican, I attend many commemorations only to be disgusted to hear it used as an opportunity by SF to claim their memories and cross it as support for their 'strategy'.  Commemorations should be left as that, a commemoration and not a political rally.

I remember well Toireasa Ferris at the hunger strike rally in Casement saying "support this leadership, this leadership will bring about what we want" etc etc etc.  It shouldn't be the case.  We don't know what or where some of the hunger strikers would be in terms of the direction which SF and the republican movement has taken.  Bobby Sands could have been a Brendan Hughes or he could have been a Pat Sheehan, we just don't know.  Commemorations should be about bringing people together to commemorate and not to be used to endorse a strategy which is what SF are doing.  It stinks.

The National Hunger Strike committee who organise these things, just like the National Graves are not Sinn Fein, or they are not supposed to be.

[4father]

When the Strike ended, their five demands were soon granted (most within three days). That wouldn't have been the case without the hunger strike.

I'm not so sure of that. On reading Laurence McKeown's book he seems to say that the demands were granted after the prisoners used alternative strategies to wreak the system via the pretence of working it. For example, free association was granted after psychological intimation of loyalist prisoners caused them to refuse to leave their cells. The Brits were only to glad to concede the demands away from the glare of publicity but because the existing set-up was made unworkable not because of the Hunger Strike. Thatcher would have quite happily let another 10 die if needed. However, I would say that the Hunger Strikes were unavoidable in the circumstances. The conditions the men had been living in since '76 was not tenable and things had to be brought to a head.

Correct on that one.  Segregation came about after a carefully planned strategy by the prisoners who let on that they 'squeeky booted' to go to the wings and create havoc with Loyalists to prove that the prison wasn't normal and could never work.  It is a largely undocumented part of the prison struggle and needs to be recorded - some very good stories as well involving the late Volunteer Larry Marley amongst others. 

However, there is no doubting that the blanket protest and of course the tragedy of the hunger strike had its effect and helped heap pressure on to the screws, the governor and the british government.  So a combination is probably the best way to describe it.

[Forever Green]

The National Hunger Strike commemoration should be free of party politics.  It and the hunger strikers memory has been hijacked by SF.  Often people are put off going because it is seen as a SF rally.

Well then you organise one and see how many turn up.SF only party who have always held commemorations even the IRSP who had 3 vols who died on hunger strike fail to have any worthwhile events to commemorate them.Their memory has not been hijacked as Sinn Fein have always remembered them and always will.It was a fantastic event yesterday with family members, fellow hunger strikers and blanket men present long may it continue.

That's not the point my friend.  As an Irish republican, I attend many commemorations only to be disgusted to hear it used as an opportunity by SF to claim their memories and cross it as support for their 'strategy'.  Commemorations should be left as that, a commemoration and not a political rally.

I remember well Toireasa Ferris at the hunger strike rally in Casement saying "support this leadership, this leadership will bring about what we want" etc etc etc.  It shouldn't be the case.  We don't know what or where some of the hunger strikers would be in terms of the direction which SF and the republican movement has taken.  Bobby Sands could have been a Brendan Hughes or he could have been a Pat Sheehan, we just don't know.  Commemorations should be about bringing people together to commemorate and not to be used to endorse a strategy which is what SF are doing.  It stinks.

The National Hunger Strike committee who organise these things, just like the National Graves are not Sinn Fein, or they are not supposed to be.

+1. Completely agree with that 4father

[Nally Stand]

Agree as well. All Commemorations should be 100% independent from political parties. A difficult thing to achieve but wouldn't it be ideal of the NGA was in a position to oversee the organisation of all such major events.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

Ronald Reagan becomes president of the US

Minutes after Ronald Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days

President Reagan is shot in the chest by would be assassin John Hinkley

Space shuttle Columbia, the world's first reusable spacecraft, is sent into space

A suspended walkway in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapses, killing 113

A female former lover files a "palimony" suit against tennis star Billie Jean King

President Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first woman on the Supreme Court

The Pac-Man video game is introduced in the US

Alicia Keys, Elijah Wood, Kelly Rowland, Anna Kournikova, and Britney Spears are born

Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series

Oakland Raiders win Superbowl XV

New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup

Raiders of the Lost Ark is the top grossing film

"Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes spends the most time at the top of the US charts

MTV debuts on cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day

Gimme a Break premieres

[snoopdog]

Its ironic that when these men gave up their lives for their country 30 years ago, we are now no closer to a United Ireland but for totally different reasons, economics suggest that a United Ireland has never been less practical for all sides.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

1981

1981 by topic:

   Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1981


1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar).
[edit] Events
[edit] January
Main article: January 1981

    * January – The subterranean Sarawak Chamber is discovered in Borneo.
    * January 1
          o Greece enters the European Community, which later becomes the European Union.
          o Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
    * January 6 – The Brazilian double decker boat Novo Amapo capsizes in the Amazon River, Belem de Cajari, Macapa, Brazil; 230 are killed.
    * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments.
    * January 16 – Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband.
    * January 17 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law.
    * January 19 – United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
    * January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days within minutes of Ronald Reagan succeeding Jimmy Carter as the President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis.
    * January 21 – The first DeLorean DMC-12 automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
    * January 23 – An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude in Sichuan, China kills 150.
    * January 25
          o Chiang Ching ("Madame Mao") is sentenced to death in the People's Republic of China.
          o Super Bowl XV: The Oakland Raiders defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 27–10 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
    * January 27 – The Indonesian passenger ship Tamponas 2 catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580.

[edit] February
Main article: February 1981

    * February 4 – Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Prime Minister of Norway.
    * February 8 – 19 fans of Olympiacos FC and 2 fans of AEK Athens die, and 54 are injured, after a stampede at the Karaiskaki Stadium in Pireus, possibly because Gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.
    * February 9 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
    * February 14
          o Stardust fire: A fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland in the early hours kills 48 and injures 214.
          o Australia withdraws recognition of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.
    * February 23 – Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil, enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies and stops the session where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo is about to be named president of the government. The coup d'état fails thanks to King Juan Carlos.
    * February 24 – A powerful, magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Athens, killing 16 people, injuring thousands and destroying several buildings, mostly in Corinth and the nearby towns of Loutraki, Kiato and Xylokastro.

[edit] March
Main article: March 1981

    * March 1 – Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army member, begins a hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison (he dies May 5, the first of 10 men).
    * March 11 – Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet is sworn in as President of Chile for another 8-year term.
    * March 17 – In Italy the Propaganda Due Masonic Lodge is discovered.
    * March 19 – Three workers are killed and 5 injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
    * March 29 – The first London Marathon starts with 7,500 runners.
    * March 30 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.

[Forever Green]

MGHU, I have just realised how much of a ballbag you really are

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

MGHU, I have just realised how much of a ballbag you really are

Why, this is the "1981 remembered" thread is it not?

[Nally Stand]

MGHU, I have just realised how much of a ballbag you really are

Took you long enough. This is the same fella who in response to a reference to Francis Hughes receiving regular assaults from the RUC as a young lad, came up with the following gem of a piece of criticism of Hughes:

Francis Hughes did not report his attackers to the police

He is also a person who said of the Hunger Strikers that:

Their "special" status is bullshit in my opinion, I'm sorry but to me they were thugs.

..and that:

These were not just internees they were convicted criminals.

He also remarked that:

There was more than enough food for them to eat, they committed suicide.

[Nally Stand]

MGHU, I have just realised how much of a ballbag you really are

Why, this is the "1981 remembered" thread is it not?

MGHU, the initial post of this thread as you well know, marks the thread as being one about respecting the Hunger Strikers on the 30th Anniversary of their deaths. That event bring up painful memories and means a lot to certain people.

Clearly you have no respect for these men, but I would ask that, on this anniversary, you allow those who do respect them and who wish to talk about them in this thread, to do so in peace.

[mayogodhelpus@gmail.com]

MGHU, I have just realised how much of a ballbag you really are

Took you long enough. This is the same fella who in response to a reference to Francis Hughes receiving regular assaults from the RUC as a young lad, came up with the following gem of a piece of criticism of Hughes:

Francis Hughes did not report his attackers to the police

He is also a person who said of the Hunger Strikers that:

Their "special" status is bullshit in my opinion, I'm sorry but to me they were thugs.

..and that:

These were not just internees they were convicted criminals.

He also remarked that:

There was more than enough food for them to eat, they committed suicide.

We meet again