• Hunger Strikes
• Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1982
• New Ireland Forum
• Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
Direct Rule (2) 1974 - 1998
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Right – wing Conservative
Strongly Pro-Empire
(Commonwealth)
Strong supporter of Reagan’s
Foreign Policy
Strong supporter of armed
forces and rule of law
Successfully fought Argentina
over Falklands Islands in 1982
Pursued a policy of aggressive
military action in Northern
Ireland – SAS & increased army
deployment.
“This lady’s not for turning”
“Our revenge will be the laughter of our
children”
Bobby Sands
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“Ulsterisation’ policy was becoming successful in Northern Ireland.
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IRA demoralised due to proactive social and economic policy of Roy
Mason.
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General public will for peace was growing.
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Roy Mason’s ‘criminalisation’ of IRA prisoners coupled with release of
internees undermined recruitment in IRA.
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Prevention of Terrorism Act (1974) coupled with ‘Ulsterisation’ and
socio-economic policy was stabilising Northern Ireland in basic security
terms.
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However, it did not in any way address the Unionist domination of
political, social & economic life.
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Status quo still remained – Direct Rule.
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IRA seized on the ‘criminal status’ of IRA prisoners as a platform for
popular protest.
Blanket Protest
Prisoners
refuse to dress in
prison clothes/uniforms.
Dirty Protest
Prisoners
refuse to wash or use
toilet facilities.
Hunger Strike (1)
Hunger Strike (2)
27 October - 18 December 1980
1 March - 3 October 1981
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1980 Strike ordered by IRA – eventually families
intervened and asked them to stop
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1981 Strike was independently taken – led by
Bobby Sands and then followed by others
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9th of April 1981 – Bobby Sands elected to
Westminster as MP
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5th of May 1981 – Bobby Sands dies on hunger
strike after 66 days
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Ten IRA prisoners died on
Hunger Strike in 1981
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Bobby Sands was
successfully elected on 9th
April 1981 as MP for
Fermanagh & South Tyrone
constituency.
“We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain
groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime, it
is not political.”
- Margaret Thatcher, 21 April 1981
“I am a political prisoner because I am a casualty of a
perennial war that is being fought between the oppressed
Irish people and an alien ... regime that refuses to withdraw
from our land.”
- Bobby Sands, Day 1 of Hunger strike
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“Yielding to coercion would provoke further coercion and encourage
more young people to follow the path of violence.”
- Margaret Thatcher, 15th of May 1981
“You have got your pound of flesh, now give us our rights. Do not for
one minute think that we are going to allow you to rob us of our
principles. There are more Bobby Sands in these Blocks and we will
continue to die if need be to safeguard these principles.”
- Republican Prisoners’ Statement, 6th of May 1981
“The Irish patriots are in the process of writing one of the most
heroic pages in human history.”
-
Fidel Castro, 19th of September 1981
“We have no right to destroy the beautiful gift of God’s life, so
any way of destroying that gift is a violence. I see many people
dying of hunger because they don’t have a decent chance to
eat. I see people who are hungry because they haven’t got
food, but I’ve never dealt with people who are hungry
because they chose to be hungry.”
-
Mother Teresa, 6th of July 1981
“Unfeeling inflexibility will achieve nothing but more
deaths.”
- Edward Kennedy, 15th of May 1981
“It is not those who can inflict the most, but those
who can suffer the most who will conquer”
-
Terence MacSwiney (Sinn Féin),
inauguration speech as Lord Mayor of Cork, 1920
Republican ideology perceived itself as the highest form of national identity. As a
result, it was considered that no sacrifice was too great for the achievement and
protection of that national identity.
Combined with often intransigent colonial forces resisting and blocking that
nationalist expression, Republicanism often employed the ‘last resort’ of emotional
war. The attempt was to underline the willingness of individuals to fight to the
death, even using their own bodies as a weapon of demonstration.
It hoped to achieve an increase in support amongst its own people, while
simultaneously demoralising the political support of its’ enemies amongst their
own people.
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The hunger strike of 1981 had very important and far-reaching consequences for
Northern Ireland and proved to be one of the key turning points of ‘the Troubles’.
The Republican movement had achieved a huge propaganda victory over the British
government and had obtained a lot of international sympathy.
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Active and tacit support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) increased in Nationalist
areas.
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Political support for Sinn Féin (SF) was demonstrated in two by-elections (and the
general election in the Republic of Ireland) and eventually led to the emergence of SF
as a significant political force in Northern Ireland.
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The British government’s fear that SF would overtake the Social Democratic and
Labour Party (SDLP) as the main representative of the Catholic population of
Northern Ireland was a key reason for the government signing the Anglo-Irish
Agreement on 15 November 1985
Source:
http://iisresource.org/Documents/HS01_Hunger_Strikes_Tbks_Tasks.pdf
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Impossible to defeat/counteract if personal will of Hunger
Strikers was strong enough
Demonstration of willpower = source of all political power
Immeasurable opportunity for national & international
publicity
Platform & opportunity to expose and magnify any and all
inequalities in region of conflict
In Northern Ireland’s case, the impact was further heightened
by the election of Bobby Sands as MP to Westminster. It
demonstrated that Republicanism, even militant
Republicanism, clearly had a very real political mandate from
the people.
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Stagnation of political process
Growth in IRA activity & support
Fianna Fáil / Fine Gael disagreement on
North
New Ireland Forum 1984
Anglo-Irish Agreement 1985
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Held in Dublin Castle
Garret Fitzgerald
(Taoiseach) launched the
Forum after consultation
with John Hume (SDLP)
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”The New Ireland Forum was established for
consultations on the manner in which lasting peace and
stability could be achieved in a new Ireland through the
democratic process and to report on possible new
structures and processes through which this objective
might be achieved”
- New Ireland Forum Report (Preface)
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Involved all Nationalist Parties in Ireland, North & South.
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Involved Catholic & Protestant clergy.
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Individual Unionist delegates attended but no Unionist Party
delegation was present.
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The Forum published it’s proposals
on 2nd May 1984. It listed the
preferences of the Nationalist Parties
in order of preference:
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A single, all-Ireland state.
A federal Ireland, north &
south having their own local
governments
Joint authority by Britain &
Republic of Ireland over
Northern Ireland
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Charlie Haughey (leader of
Fianna Fáil) ruled out
Option 2 & 3.
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Margaret Thatcher
dismissed all three proposals
with “Out! Out! Out!”
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Irish Rationale
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British Rationale
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1st official consultative role for
R.o.I. in N. Ireland affairs
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Acknowledgement of Nationalist
aspirations
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Representation and Protection of
Nationalists by Republic of
Ireland government?
Necessary step to counteract
international criticism of British
policy in N. Ireland
Consultation & Assistance from
R.o.I. in combating IRA activity
– police, army, legal system etc.
Established Republic’s
acknowledgement of the
existence of N. Ireland state**
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(Articles 2 & 3 of Bunreacht na
hEireann)
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Article 2
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Article 3
“Pending the re-integration of the
“The national territory consists of
the whole island of Ireland, its
islands and the territorial seas.”
(aspirational)
national territory, and without
prejudice to the right of the
parliament and government
established by this constitution to
exercise jurisdiction over the
whole territory, the laws enacted
by the parliament shall have the
like area and extent of
application as the laws of Saorstát
Éireann and the like extraterritorial effect.”
(effectual – legal clarification of
Article 2)
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Article 2
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1.
“It is the entitlement and birthright of
every person born in the island of
Ireland, which includes its islands and
seas, to be part of the Irish Nation.
That is also the entitlement of all
persons otherwise qualified in
accordance with law to be citizens of
Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation
cherishes its special affinity with
people of Irish ancestry living abroad
who share its cultural identity and
heritage”
Article 3
“It is the firm will of the Irish Nation, in harmony
and friendship, to unite all the people who share the
territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of
their identities and traditions, recognising that a
united Ireland shall be brought about only by
peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the
people, democratically expressed, in both
jurisdictions in the island. Until then, the laws enacted
by the Parliament established by this Constitution
shall have the like area and extent of application as
the laws enacted by the Parliament that existed
immediately before the coming into operation of this
Constitution.”
2. “Institutions with executive powers and functions that
are shared between those jurisdictions may be
established by their respective responsible authorities
for stated purposes and may exercise powers and
functions in respect of all or any part of the island.”
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Sinn Féin denounced the
Agreement
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DUP & UUP both opposed the
Agreement.
Opposed the involvement of
Dublin in Northern Ireland’s
affairs.
100,000 attended the ‘Ulster
Says No’ rally in Belfast
A joint UUP-DUP petition
against the Anglo-Irish
Agreement was signed by
400,000 Unionists in Northern
Ireland.
Loyalist paramilitaries attacked
RUC officers & intimidated
about 500 out of their houses.
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Fianna Fáil
Haughey publicly rejected
the Anglo-Irish
Agreement as simply
“reinforcing partition”
of Ireland
Secretly, Haughey accepted
it as a positive step
forward.