Bobby Sands and the IRA Plot To Kill Margaret Thatcher (Part One)

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Welcome to some very famous people you've never really heard
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of Bite Sized Biographies of the famous, the infamous and
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the quirky in less than an hour. My name is
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Philip D. Gibbons and there is more information about me
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this podcast and a bibliography at bite sized biographies dot Com.
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There are also photographs of many of the individuals and
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items mentioned in this podcast. At the conclusion of part
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one of this presentation, there will be additional suggestions concerning
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further information about today's subject, Bobby Sands and the IRA
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plot to kill Margaret Thatcher. If you have enjoyed this presentation,
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Spotify and tell a friend about Bite Sized Biographies. Now,
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let's get started with our story about Bobby Sands. Throughout
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the twentieth century, political and sectarian violence plagued both Northern
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Ireland and Great Britain, the result of historic economic and
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religious differences that sharply divided the population of Northern Ireland.
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This strife reached to crescendo in the seventies and eighties
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when the British government attempted to intervene in this conflict
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with military force, only exacerbating historic animosity and grievances that
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served to greatly increase the violence and destruction that separated
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those loyal to remaining a part of Britain and primarily Protestant,
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and those primarily Catholic wishing to unite Ireland, with the
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Northern Irish six Counties becoming a part of the southern
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twenty six Counties of the Republic of Ireland. As the
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British Empire began to lose global economic dominance following World
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War II, the collapse of prosperous industries in the United
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Kingdom and especially Northern Ireland brought with it high unemployment
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rates and recession that prompted anxiety and competition for jobs, housing,
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and education. With the Northern Ireland government and law enforcement
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dominated by a loyalist pro British mindset, the minority Catholic
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and Republican population began to bear the brunt of social
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and economic isolation. Middle class housing was assigned and provided
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by local councils, these bureaucracies engaging in blatant discrimination against Catholics,
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who also experienced difficulty in finding steady employment. The situation
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prompted a grassroots civil rights movement within the Irish Catholic community,
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initially involving parades and relatively nonviolent protests, which led to
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the formation of paramilitary organizations within Protestant neighborhoods. Violence began
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to escalate, with protesters engaging in riots against police and
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the fire bombing of residences. The situation took a decidedly
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negative turn in August of nineteen sixty nine, when an
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annual march of Loyalists in Derry, Northern Ireland, prompted a
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violent response as this group reached the Catholic neighborhood known
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as the bog Side. In response to the rocks and
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bottles thrown at the loyalists, the Royal Ulster Can Stabulary
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or RUC, the national and almost wholly Protestant National police force,
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then attempted to enter this area by force, accompanied by
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Protestant civilians, who vandalized Catholic homes and engaged in violence
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with the Bogside's inhabitants. The violence escalated to the extent
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that the Northern Irish government requested that the British military
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be sent in to stop the conflict, the first time
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British troops became involved in this modern outburst of historic hostilities.
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Violence also spread to other Northern Irish cities, primarily Belfast,
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where seven people died, mostly civilians killed by police. Although
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no one died in Derry, hundreds of police and local
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residents were injured, and the British military presence became a
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permanent fixture for the next thirty years of discord. This
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presence was initially welcomed by the Republican community, considered a
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buffer of protection against Unionist attacks. Over time, this attitude
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changed to one of deep distrust and ultimately deep seated
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animosity to what came to be considered an occupying, imperialist
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presence and an additional enforcement arm of a discriminatory society.
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Nowhere was the tension more evident than in the city
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of Derry, based on the historic grievances of the Catholic
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Republican community. Despite the two to one majority of Catholic population,
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the city was ruled by the Ulster Unionist Party since
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the partition of Ireland in the twenties. This was achieved
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through jerrymandering that allowed a Protestant majority on the City Council,
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which controlled housing, public sector employment, and law enforcement. Public
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housing was also deliberately distributed to keep Catholics in specific
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enclaves and council districts to maintain the status quo, even
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if this led to housing shortages in Catholic neighborhoods. It
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was this long time systematic discrimination in one of Northern
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Ireland's largest cities that made it a center of antagonism.
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An organised Republican protest despite official bans on parades and demonstrations,
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on January thirtieth, nineteen seventy two, local Dairy Republican organizers
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planned a protest over the policy of internment, the literal
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detention of individuals suspected of association with anti government factions,
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specifically the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Hundreds of citizens were
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imprisoned in an organized British military operation known as Demetrius
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in August of nineteen seventy one. Many individuals had no
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connection to paramilitary groups, and despite being subsequently held for
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extended periods without charge under harsh conditions, including repeated interrogations
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and torture, they were eventually freed, frequently without a word
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of a vas explanation or apology. However, in nineteen seventy one,
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thirty British soldiers were killed in Northern Ireland by bombs
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or gunfire, a development that only hardened the soldiers assigned
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to the region. It was against this backdrop that approximately
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twelve thousand Republican demonstrators began to march from the Bogside
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on January thirtieth, intent on holding a rally in front
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of the Guildhall, the site of Derry's City council. British
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paratroopers were aware of the march and were ordered not
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to permit the marcher's access to the center of the city.
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They erected barriers that blocked main thoroughfares and were eventually
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given orders to arrest demonstrators. The march rapidly deteriorated into
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a chaotic withdrawal back to the bog Side, with British
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military in pursuit armored cars attempting to penetrate permanently erected
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Republican barriers. Eventually, gunfire from various units of British soldiers
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resulted in mass casualties, and all thirteen civilians were killed
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thirteen wounded. A fourteenth victim died several months later. Although
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the official British explanation was that the soldiers were subjected
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to gunfire from armed demonstrators, it would take decades of
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formal investigation to determine that all of the victims were
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unarmed and not a single British soldier was injured by
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gunshot or explosives. This incident, known as Bloody Sunday, had
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a profound effect on an already volatile and bitter conflict
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in the Republic of Ireland. A national day of mourning
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was declared, as well as a national strike. In Dublin,
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a large crowd forced the evacuation of the British Embassy.
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The building was eventually gutted by firebombs. Although small, the
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Republic of Ireland's military was deployed to the border of
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Northern Ireland, insinuating the real threat of an actual invasion.
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The Republican government also calling for a UN peacekeeping force
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to protect civilians. Within weeks, the British government took the
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extreme step of suspending the Northern Irish government and Parliament
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and imposing direct rule from London for the Northern Irish
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Republican minority. The incident also had the effect of amplifying
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the belief that only a paramilitary group like the Irish
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Republican Army could both protect them and bring about their
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political aim the unification of Ireland and the expulsion of
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Great Britain entirely. It also served to galvanize a generation
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of younger activists to dedicate themselves to organizing a viable
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resistance to both loyalists and this British presence. One such
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individual was named Robert Girard Bobby Sands. Born on March ninth,
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nineteen fifty four in a suburb of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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Sands was the son of John and Rosaline Kelley Sans,
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working class Irish who lived in a new la constructed
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housing estate known as Abbot's Cross. Although almost rural, only
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five miles from Belfast Center, his family lived quietly during
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Sands's childhood, his mother giving birth to two additional daughters.
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This existence was uneventful until a neighbor discovered the Sands
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family secret that the Sands were actually Catholic, a problem
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even in the late fifties in a housing development that
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was overwhelmingly Protestant and even consisted of many policemen in
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quasi military harassment followed, both subtle and overt, and the
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Sands realized that any official protest would be futile, and
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they relocated to another nearby housing development, Rathcooli. This location
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actually provided some coexistence through the early sixties. A disinterested student, Sands,
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like many of his peers, spent most of his free
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time focused on football also known as soccer, via his
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secondary school, the Stella Marriage School. This institution not only
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combined a large percentage of Catholic students with Protestants, it
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also featured a superior youth football team that combined faiths
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but also attracted teenagers from the surrounding area. This coexistence
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extended to typical student social behaviors like dances and attendance
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at movie theaters, but intolerance and conflict gradually increased as
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the sixties and Republican demands for basic civil rights and
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an end to discrimination intensified. This was evident in Bobby's
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social circle, as friends who were Protestant began to avoid
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him or even blatantly told him that their parents instructed
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them to no longer associate with Sands. The formerly mixed
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social events disappeared as unionist families also began to be
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alarmed by what they considered to be a threat to
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the status quo. Even the Stella Maris football club eventually disbanded,
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Catholic players joining other segregates teams in the area. At
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the age of fifteen, Sands attempted to get on with
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his life, finishing secondary school and enrolling in a technical college.
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He started work as an apprentice at a company that
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manufactured buses. This was in March of nineteen seventy, and
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in the short term things were looking up. A teenager
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with a job and money in his pocket. Like most teens,
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Bobby was interested in music, meeting girls at dances and clubs,
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and having a few beers at a pub. But already
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Sands had learned that his neighborhood also had a propensity
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for violence inflicted after dark. Gangs of organized Protestant youth
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roamed the streets looking to intimidate, beat, and even stab
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solitary individuals who had the misfortune of crossing their path.
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Sands was also a reasonably competent cross country athlete while
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a schoolboy, a talent he put to good use on
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more than one occasion, barely making it home or to
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the house of a friend chased by a violent prone gang.
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Sans also endured harassment at work, the butt of abuse
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and even threats that escalated with coworkers brandishing guns. Notes
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left in his locker literally threatening with death if he
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didn't leave, perhaps as a precursor to his eventual demonstration
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of a powerful will. He stayed on the job for
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two years until he was fired during the course of
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a company layoff. Bobby went to live with his grandmother
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in another fairly tranquil for the time period, Belfast suburban neighborhood.
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This was probably the result of turmoil in his parents' neighborhood.
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It was August of nineteen seventy one conflict in Northern
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Ireland escalated to the point in which the British Army
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seized over four hundred individuals, mostly Catholics, on the mere
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suspicion of allegiance or activity on behalf of the IRA.
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Those detained were subjected to what was classified as internment,
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essentially detention in a jall or even prison without charge
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for an indeterminate length of time. The IRA responded with
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an even more ferocious wave of bombings, over one hundred,
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mostly fire bombings in the month of August alone. This
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escalation affected the Sands family on a personal basis. Although
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the Rathcooli housing settlement was integrated, it was majority loyalist,
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with law enforcement looking the other way as gangs harassed
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and intimidated their Catholic neighbors. They targeted specific homes with
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painted slogans, shattered picture windows with garbage cans, and even
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attacked residents until they moved out to predominantly Catholic neighborhoods.
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Before long, the Sands home itself was targeted, rocks, bottles,
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and even an occasional gunshot. Among the last Catholic families
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to leave, in nineteen seventy two, the Sands faced reality
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and moved to another housing project known as Twin Brook,
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a refuge for many such displaced residents. This development, although new,
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was frequently lacking in fundamental housing necessities, including in some
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cases electricity, plumbing and running water, and even windows. With
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the influx of Catholic families, the vast majority of Protestants
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moved out, further inhibiting any official attempts to improve or
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even finish this particular development. The result was slum like
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oppressive conditions, which further embittered the residents It was about
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this time that Bobby Sands officially became part of the IRA.
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By nineteen seventy, although rejuvenated by Republican determination to resist
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both loyalist discrimination and British military harassment, the Irish Republican
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Army was split into two separate factions. The Official IRA
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was theoretically driven to attempt to achieve a political solution,
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its adherents interested in concepts like Marxism. The Provisional IRA
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was more focused on an actual response to sectarian violence,
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protecting Catholic communities and the expulsion of Britain from Northern
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Ireland by any means possible, including violence. Although initially a
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territorial dispute, over time the Provisional IRA came to dominate
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Irish resistance in Northern Ireland, the Official IRA losing power
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and influence, and as early as nineteen seventy two the
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segment declared a truce and essentially disappeared. It was with
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the Provisional IRA that Bobby Sands began his own personal resistance.
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The relatively new area of twin Brook, not as yet
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particularly organized by the Provisional IRA, unemployed except for occasional
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shifts as a barman, unwilling to collect the dole, as
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this was how the state officially kept track of potential miscreants.
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Sand spent most of his time hanging out with other
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like minded teenagers within his housing development. Twinbrook was routinely
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patrolled by armed British soldiers, who stopped and forced groups
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of men and boys to stand against a wall while
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they were searched in gunpoint, as much an intimidation tactic
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as any real attempt at policing. Although officially a member
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of the Provisional IRA from his time in Rathcooley, Bobby
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Sands became openly involved in an activity that benefited local units,
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specifically car theft. The need for automobiles to carry out
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various IRA operations was crucial, and Sands developed an ability
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to steal vehicles and secret them in secluded parts of
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his twin Brook estate until such time as they were necessary.
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He and other young IRA adherents also began to commit
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robberies of gas stations money they pooled to literally survive,
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but British surveillance and covert intelligence was thorough enough to
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quickly identify him and others as involved with such behavior.
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A civilian tip led to information that a house frequented
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by Sands was a repository for pistols and ammunition. In
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October of nineteen seventy two, this house was raided, the
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weapon seized, and those presents were arrested. Bobby was lucky
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enough to not be present, but his flight only lasted
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five days. He was detained in a car already identified
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with a suspicious license plate, arrested with a male and
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two females. Although he did not name any accomplices under interrogation,
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he did confess to membership in the IRA and robberies
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of various retail establishments. He was sent to Long Cash
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Prison for his eventual trial. Long Cash, from its inception
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was a notorious converted RAF base that was haphazardly selected
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to house the hundreds of individuals quickly detained for internment
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in August of nineteen seventy one. Because the internees had
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not officially committed any crimes, there were granted special privileges
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not typically afforded jailed prisoners, including the ability to freely
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interact with other internees, less restrictive visitation policies, the receipt
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of food parcels, and the ability to wear regular clothing
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as opposed to prison uniforms. With the incarceration of individuals
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accused of actual crimes like Bobby Sands, and ongoing negotiations
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between the IRA and government officials, this category of prisoner
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was afforded a political status. Politicals were granted the same
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privileges as internees. In April nineteen seventy three, upon his conviction,
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Sands was sentenced to five years. Now an official political
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inhabitant of Long Kesh, admitted to a high security facility
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at the age of nineteen, Sans spent most of the
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next three years reading political tracts, discussing viewpoints with other
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like minded prisoners, and learning Gaelic or Irish to the
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extent that he was conversational, an aptitude that allowed Republican
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prisoners the ability to converse with each other without prison
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guards able to understand such conversation. Sans also met and
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interacted with Jerry Adams, one of the eventually pre eminent
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politicians and Republican figures in the movement. Adams has always
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denied membership in the IRA, but he did become a
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leader of the Shinfeine political party and greatly affected, especially
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younger prisoners in Long Kesh in turn without criminal charge.
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Adams was eventually charged with planning escapes, but was ultimately
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released after about a year of confinement. Bobby Sands only
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served three years of his sentence. The British government initially
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adopting a policy of releasing political prisoners as a method
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of negotiation with the IRA. These releases increased the IRA
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perception that the British government was verging on withdrawal from
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Northern Ireland. Sands returned to his family home in the
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Twinbrook area of Belfast instead. Upon an internal British government
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analysis of the situation in Northern Ireland, the British Government
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decided that a fundamental method to clamp down on IRA
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activity was the implementation of harsher penalties upon conviction for
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00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:09.559
offenses related to political activity. Special category status, that is,
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the classification of prisoners with a special political status as
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opposed to criminal offenses, was abolished in post March of
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nineteen seventy six. Such individuals were ordered to wear prison
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uniforms and adhere to other prison regulations with no distinction
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from incarcerated criminals. A special newly constructed unit within the
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newly named May's Prison Complex known as the H Block,
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was specially designed and constructed to house those convicted of
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IRA related criminal activity. The prisoner's response was immediate. The
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first prisoner convicted under this new criminalization policy, Kieran Nugent,
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refused to wear a prison uniform or to recognize his
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non political status. Instead, he wore bedsheets and blankets, beginning
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a protest known as Going on the Blanket. By Christmas
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nineteen seventy six, forty inmates were involved in this protest,
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a number that only increased over time. Their demands remained
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constant for the next five years. The right not to
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00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:18.680
wear a prison uniform, the right not to do prison work,
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the right of free association with other prisoners and to
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00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:26.799
organize educational and recreational pursuits, the right to one visit,
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one letter and one parcel per week, and eventually a
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demand for the full restoration of good behavior credits lost
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through this protest. While a free man, Bobby Sands was
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active as a community leader and organizer, attempting to improve
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conditions within his neighborhood and to seek out help or
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provide guidance to those in need. But he also immediately
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00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:53.200
continued involvement with the paramilitary units of the IRA. This
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00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:56.680
activity resulted in an attempt to bomb a local business,
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the Bowmorl Furniture Company, in October nineteen seventy six. These
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00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:05.880
types of attacks on typically loyalist owned enterprises were meant
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00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:10.480
to destroy commerce and inhibit the entire economic viability of
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Northern Ireland itself, the hope that Britain would eventually tire
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of such an environment and leave. In this case, the
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00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:21.759
attempt to attack the Balmoral with petrol bombs was an
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00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:25.079
aboardive attempt that prompted a prompt police response and the
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arrest of Sands and three other individuals. Apprehended in an
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automobile while in the possession of a handgun, they were
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conveyed to the notorious Castlereag Holding Center in central Belfast,
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which contained numerous holding cells and twenty one basement interrogation rooms.
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Methods here were not subtle. Prisoners held initially in a
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holding cell that was perpetually brightly lit with a deliberately
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00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:55.119
loud ventilation system meant to prevent sleep, provided with some
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00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:57.839
semblance of a meal. Prisoners were then taken to an
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00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:02.119
interrogation room, where physical beating and kicking was immediate over
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a four to six hour period, especially for individuals like
333
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:10.200
Sands who refused to answer any questions. Sands written account
334
00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:13.759
of his experience at Castlereagh, was eventually smuggled to the
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00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:19.160
outside to various European human rights organizations. Individuals were normally
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00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:22.720
detained for seven days, but after only four days of
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Sands and his co conspirators refusing to answer any questions,
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they were formally indicted. Bobby eventually sent to a weight
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trial in the newly constructed H Block of Long Kesh,
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also known as May's Prison. By this time, sans relationship
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00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.200
with his wife had completely deteriorated. He had broken promises
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00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.799
to her when he was released to focus more on
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00:24:44.839 --> 00:24:48.359
his relationship with her and his family and son, Gerard.
344
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Yet he was quickly arrested for IRA activity. During his confinement,
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Geraldine gave birth to a son who quickly died in infancy. Sands,
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released for a brief period of bereavement, per d even then.
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He spent much of this temporary freedom interacting with several
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political associates in the H Block. He immediately went on
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the blanket, refusing to wear prison clothing, A towel around
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his waist and blanket over the shoulders. In colder weather,
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some of the blanketmen would also wear boots. Most of
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their betting was removed early in the morning and returned
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at night when the prison guards left for the evening.
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A newer, harsher attitude collectively developed. Disobedience, refusal to obey
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00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.200
commands and to acknowledge guards with the words sir were
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met with beatings. All of the blanketmen confined on a
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twenty four hour basis based on quote breaches of prison
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discipline unquote. The only time prisoners whir allowed out of
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their cells was to attend mass, which many did using
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00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:54.799
the opportunity to interact with each other. Privileges were revoked,
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which meant that no packages were received, and regulations required
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00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:03.160
that prisoners wear a uniform to receive a visit from family. Hence,
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these meetings were essentially canceled, the inmates usually refusing to
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comply with this rule. Inevitably, the blanket protest became the
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00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:17.440
no wash protest, and then the dirt protest. Food was
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00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:20.160
tossed into the corners of cells and allowed to rot.
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Prisoners refused to come out of their cells for a shower,
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protesting beatings from guards. In the prison corridors when guards
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cleaned out cells while inmates were at mass. The prisoners
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00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.640
then began to take the contents of their chamber pots
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00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.200
and smear them on the walls and ceilings of their
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living space, a truly dreadful situation that induced massive fly
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and maggot infestation. Sans and other prisoners also understood that
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they could suffer an isolation, but if the public became
375
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aware of their situation, it would become another powerful propaganda
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weapon against the British establishment. They began an outreach that
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eventually prompted a July nineteen seventy eight visit from the
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Catholic archbishop from Armagh, who was publicly appalled by the conditions,
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releasing a statement that included quote, I was shocked by
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00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:16.839
the inhuman conditions prevailing in h Blocks three, four and five,
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where over three hundred prisoners were incarcerated. One would hardly
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allow an animal to remain in such conditions, let alone
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a human being. This Archbishop, Thomas o'fiac, eventually became the
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Irish Catholic Cardinal for all of Ireland and a conduit
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between the prisoners and the British government. Such was his
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00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:42.319
concern The situation in the H blocks only worsened, the
387
00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.200
guards cleaning one vacant block at a time and then
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forcing prisoners into it while a rotation of steam cleaning occurred.
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00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:53.319
Guards tried to forcibly cut the hair and restrain prisoners
390
00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:57.759
while they were brutally washed, which precipitated physical responses and
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00:27:57.799 --> 00:28:02.839
subsequent beatings. Such violence and confrontation seemed pointless or petty,
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00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:05.759
but to the prisoners it was essential to demonstrate that
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00:28:05.799 --> 00:28:08.960
they were prisoners of war in a military struggle, and
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00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.000
that they were not criminals or members of a criminal enterprise.
395
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:17.000
The British were just as determined to prove otherwise. Throughout
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00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:19.960
his imprisonment, Sans spent a great deal of time writing
397
00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:23.400
under the pen name of Marcella, the name of his sister.
398
00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:29.279
These writings, that appeared in various Republican publications, included poetry, fiction,
399
00:28:29.559 --> 00:28:33.119
and nonfiction. All of these efforts had to be written
400
00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:37.319
on toilet tissue, folded and secreted within San's colon, and
401
00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:41.200
eventually smuggled out through his attorneys, a task that took
402
00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:46.119
considerable dedication. Perhaps his most remarkable work was a fictionalized
403
00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.000
account of prison life and the protest called One Day
404
00:28:50.039 --> 00:28:53.599
in My Life, a work written in nineteen seventy nine that,
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00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:57.799
when published in nineteen eighty three, numbered over one hundred pages.
406
00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:01.240
But as time wore on, and despite the high morale
407
00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:05.759
and increased public profile of the Maze prison protesters, it
408
00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:09.680
became clear that prison authorities would continue to impose extremely
409
00:29:09.720 --> 00:29:13.680
harsh conditions and prisoners could not endure such an environment
410
00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:16.839
over the long haul, whether it was their own doing
411
00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:20.559
or conditions inflicted by prison warders. The living spaces of
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00:29:20.599 --> 00:29:25.279
the prisoners remained utterly foul, with urine soaked mattresses, fecal
413
00:29:25.319 --> 00:29:29.640
material on walls, water everywhere, and food that was frequently
414
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:34.640
moldy or inedible. Another external development indicated that optimism that
415
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:38.640
Great Britain would tire of the burden of policing Northern
416
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:42.519
Ireland and abruptly leave was misguided. With the advent of
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the new May nineteen seventy nine Conservative British government led
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00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:51.720
by Margaret Thatcher, Thatcher personified the hard line approach that
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00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:55.680
the Conservatives fundamentally adhered to with respect to Northern Ireland,
420
00:29:56.200 --> 00:29:59.759
believing that there should be no concessions to Republicans anywhere
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00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:03.480
for any issue, and that IRA activities were criminal and
422
00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:07.640
not political. Thatcher also had a personal animosity toward the
423
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:12.640
Republican movement over the assassination of British politician Airy Neve.
424
00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:16.440
Neive was a high profile war hero, participant in the
425
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:20.599
Nuremberg Trials, and a political associate of Thatcher, helping her
426
00:30:20.599 --> 00:30:24.599
win control of Britain's Conservative Party. Upon her control of
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00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.119
the British government, it was believed that Neive would be
428
00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:32.079
appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, essentially the individual
429
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:37.240
chiefly responsible for implementing official policy. Neive was also known
430
00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:42.519
to be especially hard nosed concerning any conciliation with Republican entities,
431
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:47.119
actually believing in an escalation of formal British military presence
432
00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:52.480
and engagement. On March thirtieth, nineteen seventy nine, two members
433
00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:56.279
of the Irish National Liberation Army, a splinter group with
434
00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:01.079
philosophical differences with the provisional IRA, entered parking area for
435
00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:04.359
the Palace of Westminster, the seat of Parliament where Neve
436
00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:07.359
was a member of the House of Commons. They successfully
437
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:12.480
attached a bomb to Neive's car's undercarriage, a device triggered
438
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:16.319
by a tilt mechanism When Neve attempted to leave the premises.
439
00:31:16.839 --> 00:31:20.519
Neve was mortally wounded in a horrific explosion and died
440
00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:24.880
only minutes after transport to a nearby hospital. Perhaps not
441
00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:28.720
to be outdone, the Provisional IRA engaged in a dual
442
00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:32.400
bombing attack meant to underline a willingness to escalate the
443
00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:37.559
conflict in response to additional repression. On August twenty seventh,
444
00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:43.359
nineteen seventy nine, Lord Lewis Dickey Mountbatten, a close relative
445
00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:47.160
of both Queen Elizabeth the Second and Prince Philip, senior
446
00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:51.039
officer of the Royal Navy and prominent military and NATO official,
447
00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:55.640
was spending his summer vacation at his residence, Classy Bond Castle,
448
00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:59.960
a manor house on the Irish Mullamore Peninsula County Slide,
449
00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:04.240
Republic of Ireland. Mount Batten spent many summers at this
450
00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:08.200
location despite warnings that his residence anywhere in the Republic
451
00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:11.680
a high profile literal member of the Royal family and
452
00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:15.839
British military, was dangerous, and he was again specifically warned
453
00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:19.680
following the assassination of Airy Neve not to spend the
454
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:24.759
summer at Classybond Mount Baton scoffed at such recommendations. Aged
455
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:28.160
seventy nine, He maintained that at such an old age,
456
00:32:28.279 --> 00:32:32.039
what possible interest could anyone have in killing him? In fact,
457
00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:35.880
the IRA had various general plans to assassinate him, dating
458
00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:39.319
as far back as nineteen seventy now not to be
459
00:32:39.400 --> 00:32:43.240
co opted by THELA. The provos spent the summer of
460
00:32:43.319 --> 00:32:49.480
nineteen seventy nine specifically focused on mount Batten's assassination, understanding
461
00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:52.799
his typical schedule. On the evening of August twenty sixth,
462
00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:57.559
two individuals accessed his boat, the Shadow five, moored in
463
00:32:57.640 --> 00:33:00.839
a nearby harbor, and placed a radio can trolled bomb
464
00:33:00.839 --> 00:33:05.039
within the hull, a device that contained fifty pounds of jolignite.
465
00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:09.559
Just before noon on August twenty seventh, Lord mount Batten
466
00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:13.480
and his family entourage, totaling seven individuals, made their way
467
00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:16.759
to the harbor, intent on an afternoon of boating and
468
00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:20.000
checking the various lobster pots mount Batten had placed in
469
00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:24.079
the water, with IRA observers viewing the boat from a distance.
470
00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:27.839
Only fifteen minutes after the craft left the harbor, the
471
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:32.720
bomb was detonated. The explosion obliterated the Shadow five. It
472
00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:37.319
also immediately killed mount Batten. Mount Batten's daughter Patricia, his
473
00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:42.000
son in law, Lord John Brayborne, and his grandson Timothy survived,
474
00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:47.279
but grandson Nicholas and deckhand Paul Maxwell were also immediately killed,
475
00:33:47.319 --> 00:33:52.319
and mount Batten's mother in law, Lady Doreen Brayborne, subsequently
476
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:55.680
died from her injuries. The killing of such a sentimentally
477
00:33:55.720 --> 00:33:59.160
respected but now aged figure of the British Empire and
478
00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:02.000
literal uncle to Prince Philip, as well as an innocent
479
00:34:02.039 --> 00:34:05.039
eighty two year old woman and two teenagers was a
480
00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:08.599
brutal act that shocked the British public. But the IRA
481
00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:12.480
also carried out another symbolic act on the very same day.
482
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:16.719
Later that afternoon, as a truck column of British paratroopers
483
00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:19.400
made its way from a barracks to the northern Irish
484
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:23.360
town of Newry, near the eastern coast of Ireland, a
485
00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:27.480
large fertilizer bomb hidden on a flatbed containing bales of
486
00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:32.199
straw was remotely detonated, impacting the third and final vehicle
487
00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:37.239
in the column. Six British paratroopers were killed too seriously injured.
488
00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:42.960
The large military truck obliterated clearly this operation was well coordinated.
489
00:34:43.320 --> 00:34:47.159
The surviving members of the contingent radioed for medical assistance
490
00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:51.480
and additional manpower. Within minutes, a command post was set
491
00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:55.480
up in a nearby castle, ruin a development anticipated by
492
00:34:55.519 --> 00:34:59.639
the individuals behind the ambush. Only a half hour after
493
00:34:59.639 --> 00:35:02.920
the first first explosion, another bomb was detonated in the
494
00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:07.239
vicinity of the impromptu British headquarters, an explosion that sent
495
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.400
fragments of granite from the castle into the midst of
496
00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:15.320
the paratroopers' unit, killing twelve more British soldiers. This incident
497
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:19.039
killed more British military personnel than any other episode of
498
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:23.199
Irish sectarian violence, and also inflicted a number of casualties
499
00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:27.159
not seen since World War II. That the military unit
500
00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:30.760
involved was a participant in the Bloody Sunday massacre was
501
00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:34.280
not a coincidence. While the determined prisoners in the maze
502
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:38.639
might have initially cheered such maneuvers personally, their jailers only
503
00:35:38.679 --> 00:35:43.119
became more hardened in their attitudes and behaviors. In early
504
00:35:43.239 --> 00:35:46.960
nineteen eighty, attempts to negotiate an improvement in h bloc
505
00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:52.719
conditions via intermediaries like the Archbishop went nowhere, and external
506
00:35:52.760 --> 00:35:55.880
provisional IRA leaders felt that they did not have the
507
00:35:56.000 --> 00:36:00.400
resources or leverage to expend on the Maze prisoners sitchuation situation.
508
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.199
In response, with Bobby Sands now acting as one of
509
00:36:04.199 --> 00:36:07.519
the official authority figures of the Blanket Men, a more
510
00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:12.440
drastic protest was proclaimed. In early October nineteen eighty, word
511
00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:15.119
was smuggled out of the Maze that a hunger strike
512
00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:19.519
would begin on October twenty seventh, nineteen eighty. Such a
513
00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:23.599
protest had special implications within the Irish community and its
514
00:36:23.639 --> 00:36:28.280
heritage of famine and starvation. Throughout the twentieth century, several
515
00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:31.800
Irish political prisoners had starved themselves to death as a
516
00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:36.079
result of a similar form of protest. Initially, Sands was
517
00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:39.519
adamant that he'd be included among the hunger strikers, but
518
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:44.599
other prisoners convinced him that his leadership capabilities were too valuable. Instead,
519
00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:48.360
on October twenty seventh, after a last minute flurry of
520
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:53.320
British proposals that were viewed as perfunctory, seven men Brendan Hughes,
521
00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:59.599
Tommy mcpheey, Raymond McCartney, Leo Greene, John Nixon, Tommy mckerney
522
00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:03.760
and Sean McKenna began to refuse food. Each man also
523
00:37:03.800 --> 00:37:05.840
had to deal with a cellmate who was eating, and
524
00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:09.440
guards who continually placed food in their cells and left
525
00:37:09.480 --> 00:37:12.679
it there. Each day, a doctor would ask each of
526
00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:16.239
the seven if they were still striking. Only eleven days
527
00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:19.079
into the strike, all seven men were removed into the
528
00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:22.440
hospital wing of the prison. Whether this was for humane
529
00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:25.599
reasons or to isolate the strikers from the other blanket
530
00:37:25.639 --> 00:37:29.480
men could not be determined. Part of the hunger Striker's
531
00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:35.199
strategy was to pressure the British government externally with popular protests, marches,
532
00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:40.239
and demonstrations. As the strike continued, the slogan smash h
533
00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:44.760
block became widespread, but there was no significant movement from
534
00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:48.440
the British government or prison authorities other than frequent medical
535
00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:52.239
visits and permission for Sands and other prisoners to occasionally
536
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:57.840
visit the seven. Eventually, backchannel negotiations began involving the Irish
537
00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:02.079
government and Northern Irish Government official so that publicly Thatcher
538
00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.519
could maintain that she was not meeting with terrorists. Some
539
00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:09.559
progress was made, but eventually after several proposals passed back
540
00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:12.920
and forth, and some strikers began to verge on lapsing
541
00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:16.599
into a coma. The strike was suspended on December eighteenth,
542
00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:20.599
without any changes in the h Bloc policies. How and
543
00:38:20.679 --> 00:38:24.079
why this happened is still a matter of debate, but fundamentally,
544
00:38:24.119 --> 00:38:27.760
the British government's belief that the hunger strikers would eventually
545
00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:31.559
relent before actual deaths occurred seemed to be the case.
546
00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:36.760
This perception would have eventually lethal and dramatic consequences, as
547
00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:40.239
no sooner had the strike ceased, Sans and other blanket
548
00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:43.119
men became determined to prove that they were willing to
549
00:38:43.199 --> 00:38:47.760
die to achieve political status. On February fourth, a prisoner
550
00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:51.519
communication announced that another strike would begin, but as a
551
00:38:51.559 --> 00:38:54.599
gesture of good faith, they ended what was known as
552
00:38:54.639 --> 00:38:59.119
the Dirty strike, accepting showers and haircuts and relocation to
553
00:38:59.199 --> 00:39:02.960
clean cells, but they still refused to accept uniforms and
554
00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:06.880
remained on the blanket. The strike was set for March first,
555
00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:09.960
but this time it would consist of a staggered period
556
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:13.599
for each striker, guaranteeing that pressure on the British government
557
00:39:13.639 --> 00:39:16.880
would continue and would not depend on a collective effort.
558
00:39:17.119 --> 00:39:22.639
Each death meant to ratchet up outrage from the global community. Unfortunately,
559
00:39:22.679 --> 00:39:26.280
it also meant that deaths were probably inevitable, especially in
560
00:39:26.400 --> 00:39:31.079
light of British government skepticism. On March first, the first prisoner,
561
00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:34.960
Bobby Sands, began the strike. In his diary, he wrote,
562
00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:38.639
I am standing on the threshold of another trembling world.
563
00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:41.800
May God have mercy on my soul. I know that
564
00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:44.599
I have broken my poor mother's heart, and my home
565
00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:48.039
is struck with unbearable anxiety. But I have considered all
566
00:39:48.119 --> 00:39:51.119
the arguments and tried every means to avoid what has
567
00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:54.119
become the unavoidable that has been forced upon me and
568
00:39:54.159 --> 00:39:57.800
my comrades by four and a half years of stark inhumanity.
569
00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:01.000
Jerry Adams and other exc the journal members of the
570
00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:04.960
IRA advised against the strike, believing that after the collapse
571
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:07.800
of the first effort, the British government would certainly allow
572
00:40:07.920 --> 00:40:10.599
some of them to die and might not even negotiate
573
00:40:10.719 --> 00:40:14.760
at all. It made no difference examined by a doctor.
574
00:40:15.280 --> 00:40:17.480
Sands weight on day one of the strike was one
575
00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:21.239
hundred forty pounds. Within three days of beginning the protest,
576
00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:24.599
his warders placed a small table in his cell and
577
00:40:24.679 --> 00:40:27.239
began to place his food directly in front of him,
578
00:40:27.320 --> 00:40:30.239
as opposed to merely placing it near a cell's entrance.
579
00:40:30.880 --> 00:40:33.159
Only five days into the strike, he met with the
580
00:40:33.159 --> 00:40:36.960
only two journalists ever to speak with him during his ordeal.
581
00:40:37.559 --> 00:40:41.760
David Berenson of the UK Guardian and Brendan o'cathor of
582
00:40:41.800 --> 00:40:45.039
the Irish Times were accepted onto a visitor's list, but
583
00:40:45.079 --> 00:40:47.719
then forced to sign an agreement that they would not
584
00:40:47.800 --> 00:40:52.400
write about anything discussed with Sans. They agreed upon leaving
585
00:40:52.400 --> 00:40:56.000
the visitor's room. However, both journalists were so impressed that
586
00:40:56.039 --> 00:41:00.199
they told prison officials that Sands's perspective was compelling enough
587
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:02.480
that publishing it was a matter of the public's right
588
00:41:02.559 --> 00:41:06.119
to hear it. Okathor did publish an article in which
589
00:41:06.119 --> 00:41:09.880
he reported that Sans emphasized that he probably would die,
590
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:12.679
that it was worthwhile for the sake of his comrades,
591
00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:16.480
and despite his Catholic beliefs quote if I die, God
592
00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:21.079
will understand unquote. His jailers were now including jam with
593
00:41:21.199 --> 00:41:24.480
his bread and unheard of luxury as an additional inducement
594
00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:28.199
to eat, But several weeks on he began to physically weaken.
595
00:41:28.719 --> 00:41:32.400
Discussion of Sans protest appeared in the House of Commons
596
00:41:33.000 --> 00:41:36.880
when the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Humphrey Atkins,
597
00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:41.000
responsible for policy, stated that there would be no change
598
00:41:41.039 --> 00:41:44.599
in treatment or status of the MAZE prisoners or capitulation
599
00:41:44.719 --> 00:41:48.000
of any kind as a result of Sand's behavior. On
600
00:41:48.119 --> 00:41:51.960
March fifteenth, Frank Hughes, as threatened, began the second of
601
00:41:52.079 --> 00:41:56.360
rolling hunger strikes. Eight days later, Bobby Sands, with doctors
602
00:41:56.400 --> 00:41:59.800
determining that he was losing muscle mass, transferred him to
603
00:41:59.800 --> 00:42:03.280
the prison hospital wing. Outside of the prison. There was
604
00:42:03.320 --> 00:42:06.239
a development that set off a remarkable chain of events.
605
00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:11.039
On March fifth, the Member of Parliament representing Firmana and
606
00:42:11.159 --> 00:42:15.519
South Tyrone in Northern Ireland, Frank Maguire, died suddenly of
607
00:42:15.559 --> 00:42:19.480
a heart attack. Momentum immediately began to run Bobby Sands
608
00:42:19.519 --> 00:42:22.960
for the now vacant position. Exactly who came up with
609
00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:26.719
this idea has never been specifically identified, but Jerry Adams
610
00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:30.360
agreed to the concept as long as other potential Republican
611
00:42:30.440 --> 00:42:34.599
candidates agreed to stand down. This agreement was reached and
612
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:38.679
the special election became a two man proposition, extremely rare
613
00:42:38.719 --> 00:42:42.719
in British politics. Sands's opponent was Harry West of the
614
00:42:42.840 --> 00:42:47.599
Ulster Unionist Party, the Establishment Party of Northern Irish Loyalists.
615
00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:51.960
The election was scheduled for April ninth, nineteen eighty one.
616
00:42:52.039 --> 00:42:55.000
Although Sands was intrigued by the situation, he was more
617
00:42:55.039 --> 00:42:59.800
amused than inspired. His fundamental outlook remained intact. Even if
618
00:42:59.800 --> 00:43:03.159
I win, it won't matter, it won't change things. I'll
619
00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:07.079
die for Jerry Adams. The election was the opportunity he
620
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:10.199
had been waiting for, intent on societal change through a
621
00:43:10.199 --> 00:43:15.320
political process. An Irish Republicanism manifested in the political party
622
00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:19.719
known as shin Feine. An immediate grassroots movement descended on
623
00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:24.079
the district. After a bitterly contested campaign, All of Ireland
624
00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:26.559
awaited the announcement of the results on the evening of
625
00:43:26.639 --> 00:43:30.440
the ninth. The tension especially intense within the h blocks.
626
00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:35.320
Prisoners agreed among themselves not to react audibly upon hearing
627
00:43:35.800 --> 00:43:40.079
the results via miniature, makeshift clandestine radios fashioned out of
628
00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:44.760
smuggled crystals and wires attached to prison pipes, a group
629
00:43:44.840 --> 00:43:47.719
outburst would alert the prison authorities to the presence of
630
00:43:47.760 --> 00:43:51.760
those devices. Instead, When the announcement of sands victory over
631
00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:56.239
West thirty thousand, four nine two to twenty nine thousand
632
00:43:56.440 --> 00:43:59.440
four to six, the prisoners engaged in a practice of
633
00:43:59.480 --> 00:44:03.880
spontaneaneous leaping known as silent screaming in the hospital ward
634
00:44:03.960 --> 00:44:06.320
in prison itself. It was a long night with many
635
00:44:06.360 --> 00:44:10.320
long faces at every level of May's authority. They understood
636
00:44:10.360 --> 00:44:12.960
that an individual that they perceived is nothing more than
637
00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:17.679
a hardened criminal upstart attempting to defy prison regulations. Was
638
00:44:17.719 --> 00:44:22.119
now an international celebrity and the ultimate underdog. Asked for
639
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:25.360
a comment during a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Margaret
640
00:44:25.440 --> 00:44:29.159
Thatcher was just as resolute quote A crime is a
641
00:44:29.159 --> 00:44:32.239
crime as a crime. It is not political, it is
642
00:44:32.280 --> 00:44:36.880
a crime unquote. But Sans's victory came with a downside.
643
00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:39.840
His family, priests and others had been allowed to visit
644
00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:43.440
him on a virtually unrestricted basis. The excitement of the
645
00:44:43.480 --> 00:44:46.480
election and the now constant effort to speak with visitors
646
00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:50.280
and console his mother, who was justifiably distraught exactly a
647
00:44:50.320 --> 00:44:53.639
heavy toll. By the third week of April, his facial
648
00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:56.800
features were described as skeletal, and even his ability to
649
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:00.519
speak was becoming impaired, and his last day the several
650
00:45:00.559 --> 00:45:04.679
Southern Irish politicians, including the Prime Minister of Ireland, an
651
00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:09.559
Irish Papal secretary, several familiar Catholic priests, and even Sands's
652
00:45:09.639 --> 00:45:14.840
mother attempted to end the strike. Ultimately, these attempts failed. Bobby,
653
00:45:14.920 --> 00:45:18.800
especially wary of any negotiations after the strike of nineteen
654
00:45:18.880 --> 00:45:22.639
eighty where promises were made and then broken. His only
655
00:45:22.679 --> 00:45:25.840
accommodation was to accept the gift of a golden rosary
656
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:30.199
blessed by the Pope John Paul. Over the weekend beginning
657
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:34.079
Friday May first, Sands and his family rebuffed any additional
658
00:45:34.119 --> 00:45:38.320
personal appeals and began to prepare for the inevitable blind
659
00:45:38.599 --> 00:45:42.639
One of Sans's eyes closed, the other became bright orange
660
00:45:42.679 --> 00:45:46.000
as his kidneys began to fail in extreme pain for
661
00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:48.800
the remainder of his life. On Monday night, all of
662
00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:51.519
his organs began to shut down and he lapsed into
663
00:45:51.559 --> 00:45:54.159
a coma. Having told his parents that he should not
664
00:45:54.199 --> 00:45:59.320
be resuscitated, he mercifully passed away at one seventeen am Tuesday,
665
00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:03.760
May fifth. It had taken sixty six days to die.
666
00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:06.599
Within minutes, the news of Sans's death had swept through
667
00:46:06.599 --> 00:46:09.880
the h blocks via the Crystal Radio network and ultimately
668
00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:13.559
all of Ireland and the international community. Officially, there was
669
00:46:13.639 --> 00:46:16.800
little response from the British government other than an affirmation
670
00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:20.199
that political status would never be granted, and the British
671
00:46:20.199 --> 00:46:25.760
Parliament uncharacteristically briefly announced Sans's death without any typical embellishment.
672
00:46:26.360 --> 00:46:30.280
Sans's body was removed to the family home and twin Brook, Belfast,
673
00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:33.639
and waked as thousands of people passed through the house's
674
00:46:33.679 --> 00:46:37.679
modest living room, Sans visible in a white habit adorned
675
00:46:37.679 --> 00:46:41.239
with the Sacred Heart the Pope's rosary entwined in his hands.
676
00:46:41.960 --> 00:46:46.360
A funeral procession was escorted by hooded armed IRA paramilitaries.
677
00:46:46.559 --> 00:46:49.960
The brief march to a nearby chapel witnessed by tens
678
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:53.800
of thousands of people. Eventually, Sans's coffin was conveyed to
679
00:46:53.840 --> 00:46:58.239
Milltown Cemetery, adorned with the Irish tri color gloves and
680
00:46:58.320 --> 00:47:02.480
beret symbols of the Iron. At the cemetery, already a
681
00:47:02.559 --> 00:47:06.480
repository for many victims of sectarian violence and the future
682
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:11.039
site of even additional incidents. The Sans family, including Bobby's
683
00:47:11.039 --> 00:47:14.519
young son Girard, listened to an oration and then after
684
00:47:14.559 --> 00:47:18.239
the coffin was placed in the ground, Sands's father brother
685
00:47:18.320 --> 00:47:21.800
and son shoveled dirt on top of it. Although there
686
00:47:21.800 --> 00:47:27.039
were international demonstrations, emotional journalism, and even official condemnations of
687
00:47:27.039 --> 00:47:30.039
the British government, the death of Bobby Sands did not
688
00:47:30.159 --> 00:47:33.679
change the status of his h Block compatriots. In fact,
689
00:47:34.239 --> 00:47:38.760
nine other strikers would die Frank Hughes only a week later.
690
00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:42.360
Not only did the British government not yield, they actually
691
00:47:42.400 --> 00:47:46.119
began to attack the striker's funeral processions in an attempt
692
00:47:46.159 --> 00:47:51.679
to apprehend IRA paramilitaries. Finally, in early September, families of
693
00:47:51.719 --> 00:47:54.639
two additional strikers who were in a coma near death,
694
00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:58.440
could stand no more. They interceded in a loud nourishment
695
00:47:58.519 --> 00:48:01.920
that saved their sons lives. The Hunger Strike was over.
696
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:05.280
Although the end of the strike could be perceived internally
697
00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:09.039
as another demonstration of British power and authority, it also
698
00:48:09.239 --> 00:48:13.920
galvanized Republican support throughout Ireland, especially in Southern Ireland, and
699
00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:17.239
was the catalyst for the political movement that became a
700
00:48:17.280 --> 00:48:22.679
formidable political entity Shinfein. But those developments evolved over decades,
701
00:48:22.760 --> 00:48:25.719
and upon the death of the Hunger Strikers, the immediate
702
00:48:25.719 --> 00:48:31.199
emotion among IRA circles was unbridled rage, especially against Margaret Thatcher,
703
00:48:31.719 --> 00:48:36.079
perceived as the personification of British tyranny and repression within
704
00:48:36.119 --> 00:48:39.599
the IRA. The immediate goal became to strike back personally
705
00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:44.119
against the individual they felt was most responsible for this outcome.
706
00:48:44.400 --> 00:48:47.719
It would take some time, but eventually a specific plan
707
00:48:47.840 --> 00:49:06.599
was formulated to bring about such a result. Thank you
708
00:49:06.679 --> 00:49:09.599
for listening to part one of this podcast about Bobby
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Sands and the IRA. Information for this podcast came from
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the books Nothing but an Unfinished Song by Dennis O'Hearn
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and Killing Thatcher by Rory Carroll. There are also additional photographs,
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bibliographical and musical information at bite sized biographies dot com.
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Thank you for listening, and please tell a friend about
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Bite Sized Biographies so he as