domingo, maio 05, 2024
Hoje é dia de cantar a vida e morte de Bobby Sands...
Postado por Fernando Martins às 04:30 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, direitos humanos, greve de fome, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte, música, The Ballad Of Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands morreu há quarenta e três anos...
In June 1972, at the age of 18, Bobby moved with his family to the Twinbrook housing estate in west Belfast, and had to leave Rathcoole due to loyalist intimidation.
He married Geraldine Noade. His son, Gerard, was born 8 May 1973. Noade soon left to live in England with their son.
Sands' sister, Bernadette Sands McKevitt, is also a prominent Irish Republican. Along with her husband Michael McKevitt she helped to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and is accused of involvement with the Real Irish Republican Army. Sands McKevitt is opposed to the Belfast Agreement, stating that "Bobby did not die for cross-border bodies with executive powers. He did not die for nationalists to be equal British citizens within the Northern Ireland state."
Immediately after his sentence, Sands was implicated in a ruckus and spent the first 22 days "on boards" (all furniture was removed from his cell) in Crumlin Road Prison, 15 days naked, and a No. 1 starvation diet (bread and water) every 3 days.
Republican prisoners organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status which would free them from some ordinary prison regulations. This began with the "blanket protest" in 1976, in which the prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and wore blankets instead. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the "dirty protest", wherein prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.
The sudden vacancy in a seat with a nationalist majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign. Pressure not to split the vote led other nationalist parties, notably the Social Democratic and Labour Party, to withdraw, and Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner". After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West - and also become the youngest MP at the time. However Sands died in prison less than a month afterwards, without ever having taken his seat in the Commons.
Following Sands' success, the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in British elections. This law was introduced in order to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament.
- The right not to wear a prison uniform;
- The right not to do prison work;
- The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
- The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
- Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.
The announcement of Sands's death prompted several days of rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milk deliverer, Eric Guiney, and his son, Desmond, died as a result of injuries sustained when their milk float crashed after being stoned by rioters in a predominantly nationalist area of north Belfast. Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands's funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their grave is maintained and cared for by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Sands was a Member of the Westminster Parliament for 25 days, though he never took his seat or the oath.
In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 1981, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Sands was survived by his parents, siblings, and his son, Gerard.
Postado por Fernando Martins às 00:43 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, direitos humanos, greve de fome, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte
terça-feira, outubro 03, 2023
Os presos políticos católicos norte-irlandeses terminaram a greve de fome há 42 anos...
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out", the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.
(...)
The second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands, the IRA's former Officer Commanding (OC) in the prison, refused food. Unlike the first strike, the prisoners joined one at a time and at staggered intervals, which they believed would arouse maximum public support and exert maximum pressure on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The republican movement initially struggled to generate public support for the second hunger strike. The Sunday before Sands began his strike, 3,500 people marched through west Belfast; during the first hunger strike four months earlier the marchers had numbered 10,000. Five days into the strike, however, Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Frank Maguire died, resulting in a by-election. There was debate among nationalists and republicans regarding who should contest the election: Austin Currie of the Social Democratic and Labour Party expressed an interest, as did Bernadette McAliskey and Maguire's brother Noel. After negotiations, and implied threats to Noel Maguire, they agreed not to split the nationalist vote by contesting the election and Sands stood as an Anti H-Block candidate against Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West. Following a high-profile campaign the election took place on 9 April, and Sands was elected to the British House of Commons with 30,492 votes to West's 29,046.
Sands' election victory raised hopes that a settlement could be negotiated, but Thatcher stood firm in refusing to give concessions to the hunger strikers. She stated "We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime, it is not political". The world's media descended on Belfast, and several intermediaries visited Sands in an attempt to negotiate an end to the hunger strike, including Síle de Valera, granddaughter of Éamon de Valera, Pope John Paul II's personal envoy John Magee, and European Commission of Human Rights officials. With Sands close to death, the government's position remained unchanged, with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Humphrey Atkins stating "If Mr. Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The Government would not force medical treatment upon him".
On 5 May, Sands died in the prison hospital on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike, prompting rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. Humphrey Atkins issued a statement saying that Sands had committed suicide "under the instructions of those who felt it useful to their cause that he should die". Over 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral, which was conducted with full IRA military honours. Margaret Thatcher showed no regret for his death, telling the House of Commons that, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Name | Paramilitary affiliation | Strike started | Date of death | Length of strike | Reason for imprisonment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bobby Sands | IRA | 1 March | 5 May | 66 days | Possession of a handgun |
Francis Hughes | IRA | 15 March | 12 May | 59 days | Various offences, including the murder of a soldier |
Raymond McCreesh | IRA | 22 March | 21 May | 61 days | Attempted murder, possession of a rifle, IRA membership |
Patsy O’Hara | INLA | 22 March | 21 May | 61 days | Possession of a hand grenade |
Joe McDonnell | IRA | 8 May | 8 July | 61 days | Possession of a firearm |
Martin Hurson | IRA | 28 May | 13 July | 46 days | Attempted murder, involvement in explosions, IRA membership |
Kevin Lynch | INLA | 23 May | 1 August | 71 days | Stealing shotguns, taking part in a punishment shooting |
Kieran Doherty | IRA | 22 May | 2 August | 73 days | Possession of firearms and explosives, hijacking |
Thomas McElwee | IRA | 8 June | 8 August | 62 days | Manslaughter |
Michael Devine | INLA | 22 June | 20 August | 60 days | Theft and possession of firearms |
Postado por Fernando Martins às 00:42 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, greve de fome, Igreja Católica, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte, música, prisioneiros políticos, Reino Unido
sexta-feira, maio 05, 2023
Goodbye Bobby Sands...
Postado por Pedro Luna às 04:20 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, direitos humanos, Goodbye Bobby Sands, greve de fome, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte, música
Deixaram Bobby Sands morrer há quarenta e dois anos...
In June 1972, at the age of 18, Bobby moved with his family to the Twinbrook housing estate in west Belfast, and had to leave Rathcoole due to loyalist intimidation.
He married Geraldine Noade. His son, Gerard, was born 8 May 1973. Noade soon left to live in England with their son.
Sands' sister, Bernadette Sands McKevitt, is also a prominent Irish Republican. Along with her husband Michael McKevitt she helped to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and is accused of involvement with the Real Irish Republican Army. Sands McKevitt is opposed to the Belfast Agreement, stating that "Bobby did not die for cross-border bodies with executive powers. He did not die for nationalists to be equal British citizens within the Northern Ireland state."
Immediately after his sentence, Sands was implicated in a ruckus and spent the first 22 days "on boards" (all furniture was removed from his cell) in Crumlin Road Prison, 15 days naked, and a No. 1 starvation diet (bread and water) every 3 days.
Republican prisoners organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status which would free them from some ordinary prison regulations. This began with the "blanket protest" in 1976, in which the prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and wore blankets instead. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the "dirty protest", wherein prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.
The sudden vacancy in a seat with a nationalist majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign. Pressure not to split the vote led other nationalist parties, notably the Social Democratic and Labour Party, to withdraw, and Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner". After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West - and also become the youngest MP at the time. However Sands died in prison less than a month afterwards, without ever having taken his seat in the Commons.
Following Sands' success, the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in British elections. This law was introduced in order to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament.
- The right not to wear a prison uniform;
- The right not to do prison work;
- The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
- The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
- Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.
The announcement of Sands's death prompted several days of rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milk deliverer, Eric Guiney, and his son, Desmond, died as a result of injuries sustained when their milk float crashed after being stoned by rioters in a predominantly nationalist area of north Belfast. Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands's funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their grave is maintained and cared for by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Sands was a Member of the Westminster Parliament for 25 days, though he never took his seat or the oath.
In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 1981, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Sands was survived by his parents, siblings, and his son, Gerard.
Postado por Fernando Martins às 00:42 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, direitos humanos, greve de fome, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte
segunda-feira, outubro 03, 2022
Os presos políticos católicos norte-irlandeses terminaram uma greve de fome há 41 anos...
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out", the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.
(...)
The second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands, the IRA's former Officer Commanding (OC) in the prison, refused food. Unlike the first strike, the prisoners joined one at a time and at staggered intervals, which they believed would arouse maximum public support and exert maximum pressure on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The republican movement initially struggled to generate public support for the second hunger strike. The Sunday before Sands began his strike, 3,500 people marched through west Belfast; during the first hunger strike four months earlier the marchers had numbered 10,000. Five days into the strike, however, Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Frank Maguire died, resulting in a by-election. There was debate among nationalists and republicans regarding who should contest the election: Austin Currie of the Social Democratic and Labour Party expressed an interest, as did Bernadette McAliskey and Maguire's brother Noel. After negotiations, and implied threats to Noel Maguire, they agreed not to split the nationalist vote by contesting the election and Sands stood as an Anti H-Block candidate against Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West. Following a high-profile campaign the election took place on 9 April, and Sands was elected to the British House of Commons with 30,492 votes to West's 29,046.
Sands' election victory raised hopes that a settlement could be negotiated, but Thatcher stood firm in refusing to give concessions to the hunger strikers. She stated "We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime, it is not political". The world's media descended on Belfast, and several intermediaries visited Sands in an attempt to negotiate an end to the hunger strike, including Síle de Valera, granddaughter of Éamon de Valera, Pope John Paul II's personal envoy John Magee, and European Commission of Human Rights officials. With Sands close to death, the government's position remained unchanged, with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Humphrey Atkins stating "If Mr. Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The Government would not force medical treatment upon him".
On 5 May, Sands died in the prison hospital on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike, prompting rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. Humphrey Atkins issued a statement saying that Sands had committed suicide "under the instructions of those who felt it useful to their cause that he should die". Over 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral, which was conducted with full IRA military honours. Margaret Thatcher showed no regret for his death, telling the House of Commons that, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Name | Paramilitary affiliation | Strike started | Date of death | Length of strike | Reason for imprisonment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bobby Sands | IRA | 1 March | 5 May | 66 days | Possession of a handgun |
Francis Hughes | IRA | 15 March | 12 May | 59 days | Various offences, including the murder of a soldier |
Raymond McCreesh | IRA | 22 March | 21 May | 61 days | Attempted murder, possession of a rifle, IRA membership |
Patsy O’Hara | INLA | 22 March | 21 May | 61 days | Possession of a hand grenade |
Joe McDonnell | IRA | 8 May | 8 July | 61 days | Possession of a firearm |
Martin Hurson | IRA | 28 May | 13 July | 46 days | Attempted murder, involvement in explosions, IRA membership |
Kevin Lynch | INLA | 23 May | 1 August | 71 days | Stealing shotguns, taking part in a punishment shooting |
Kieran Doherty | IRA | 22 May | 2 August | 73 days | Possession of firearms and explosives, hijacking |
Thomas McElwee | IRA | 8 June | 8 August | 62 days | Manslaughter |
Michael Devine | INLA | 22 June | 20 August | 60 days | Theft and possession of firearms |
Postado por Fernando Martins às 00:41 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, greve de fome, Igreja Católica, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte, música, prisioneiros políticos, Reino Unido
quinta-feira, maio 05, 2022
Bobby Sands morreu há quarenta e um anos...
In June 1972, at the age of 18, Bobby moved with his family to the Twinbrook housing estate in west Belfast, and had to leave Rathcoole due to loyalist intimidation.
He married Geraldine Noade. His son, Gerard, was born 8 May 1973. Noade soon left to live in England with their son.
Sands' sister, Bernadette Sands McKevitt, is also a prominent Irish Republican. Along with her husband Michael McKevitt she helped to form the 32 County Sovereignty Movement and is accused of involvement with the Real Irish Republican Army. Sands McKevitt is opposed to the Belfast Agreement, stating that "Bobby did not die for cross-border bodies with executive powers. He did not die for nationalists to be equal British citizens within the Northern Ireland state."
Immediately after his sentence, Sands was implicated in a ruckus and spent the first 22 days "on boards" (all furniture was removed from his cell) in Crumlin Road Prison, 15 days naked, and a No. 1 starvation diet (bread and water) every 3 days.
Republican prisoners organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status which would free them from some ordinary prison regulations. This began with the "blanket protest" in 1976, in which the prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and wore blankets instead. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the "dirty protest", wherein prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement.
The sudden vacancy in a seat with a nationalist majority of about five thousand was a valuable opportunity for Sands' supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign. Pressure not to split the vote led other nationalist parties, notably the Social Democratic and Labour Party, to withdraw, and Sands was nominated on the label "Anti H-Block / Armagh Political Prisoner". After a highly polarised campaign, Sands narrowly won the seat on 9 April 1981, with 30,493 votes to 29,046 for the Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West - and also become the youngest MP at the time. However Sands died in prison less than a month afterwards, without ever having taken his seat in the Commons.
Following Sands' success, the British Government introduced the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevents prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in British elections. This law was introduced in order to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament.
- The right not to wear a prison uniform;
- The right not to do prison work;
- The right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
- The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
- Full restoration of remission lost through the protest.
The announcement of Sands's death prompted several days of rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milk deliverer, Eric Guiney, and his son, Desmond, died as a result of injuries sustained when their milk float crashed after being stoned by rioters in a predominantly nationalist area of north Belfast. Over 100,000 people lined the route of Sands's funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their grave is maintained and cared for by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Sands was a Member of the Westminster Parliament for 25 days, though he never took his seat or the oath.
In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 1981, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Sands was survived by his parents, siblings, and his son, Gerard.
Postado por Fernando Martins às 00:41 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, direitos humanos, greve de fome, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte
Hoje é dia de recordar Bobby Sands...
Postado por Pedro Luna às 00:00 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, direitos humanos, Goodbye Bobby Sands, greve de fome, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte, música
domingo, outubro 03, 2021
A Greve de Fome dos presos políticos católicos norte-irlandeses terminou há quarenta anos
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out", the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.
(...)
The second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands, the IRA's former Officer Commanding (OC) in the prison, refused food. Unlike the first strike, the prisoners joined one at a time and at staggered intervals, which they believed would arouse maximum public support and exert maximum pressure on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The republican movement initially struggled to generate public support for the second hunger strike. The Sunday before Sands began his strike, 3,500 people marched through west Belfast; during the first hunger strike four months earlier the marchers had numbered 10,000. Five days into the strike, however, Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Frank Maguire died, resulting in a by-election. There was debate among nationalists and republicans regarding who should contest the election: Austin Currie of the Social Democratic and Labour Party expressed an interest, as did Bernadette McAliskey and Maguire's brother Noel. After negotiations, and implied threats to Noel Maguire, they agreed not to split the nationalist vote by contesting the election and Sands stood as an Anti H-Block candidate against Ulster Unionist Party candidate Harry West. Following a high-profile campaign the election took place on 9 April, and Sands was elected to the British House of Commons with 30,492 votes to West's 29,046.
Sands' election victory raised hopes that a settlement could be negotiated, but Thatcher stood firm in refusing to give concessions to the hunger strikers. She stated "We are not prepared to consider special category status for certain groups of people serving sentences for crime. Crime is crime is crime, it is not political". The world's media descended on Belfast, and several intermediaries visited Sands in an attempt to negotiate an end to the hunger strike, including Síle de Valera, granddaughter of Éamon de Valera, Pope John Paul II's personal envoy John Magee, and European Commission of Human Rights officials. With Sands close to death, the government's position remained unchanged, with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Humphrey Atkins stating "If Mr. Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The Government would not force medical treatment upon him".
On 5 May, Sands died in the prison hospital on the sixty-sixth day of his hunger strike, prompting rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. Humphrey Atkins issued a statement saying that Sands had committed suicide "under the instructions of those who felt it useful to their cause that he should die". Over 100,000 people lined the route of his funeral, which was conducted with full IRA military honours. Margaret Thatcher showed no regret for his death, telling the House of Commons that, "Mr. Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".
Name | Paramilitary affiliation | Strike started | Date of death | Length of strike | Reason for imprisonment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bobby Sands | IRA | 1 March | 5 May | 66 days | Possession of a handgun |
Francis Hughes | IRA | 15 March | 12 May | 59 days | Various offences, including the murder of a soldier |
Raymond McCreesh | IRA | 22 March | 21 May | 61 days | Attempted murder, possession of a rifle, IRA membership |
Patsy O’Hara | INLA | 22 March | 21 May | 61 days | Possession of a hand grenade |
Joe McDonnell | IRA | 8 May | 8 July | 61 days | Possession of a firearm |
Martin Hurson | IRA | 28 May | 13 July | 46 days | Attempted murder, involvement in explosions, IRA membership |
Kevin Lynch | INLA | 23 May | 1 August | 71 days | Stealing shotguns, taking part in a punishment shooting |
Kieran Doherty | IRA | 22 May | 2 August | 73 days | Possession of firearms and explosives, hijacking |
Thomas McElwee | IRA | 8 June | 8 August | 62 days | Manslaughter |
Michael Devine | INLA | 22 June | 20 August | 60 days | Theft and possession of firearms |
Postado por Fernando Martins às 00:40 0 bocas
Marcadores: Bobby Sands, greve de fome, Igreja Católica, IRA, Irlanda, Irlanda do Norte, música, prisioneiros políticos, Reino Unido, Roll of Honour, The Irish Brigade