The Hunger Strikes

Available for over a year

The IRA’s weapon of last resort wasn't a gun or a bomb - it was the hunger strike. Forty years ago, seven prisoners began the first ever hunger strike in the H Blocks of the Maze prison. It ended after 53 days. They were protesting about conditions in the prison and the men wanted to be classified as political prisoners. Peter Taylor chronicled every step of the escalating drama, from its beginning in 1980 to the climax in 1981 when ten Republican prisoners starved themselves to death. Bobby Sands died on the 66th day of his hunger strike and remains the best known of those died. It was seen as a confrontation between the Iron Lady, the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and the Iron Men, the hunger strikers themselves. It was not foreseen at the time , but Peter Taylor argues that the hunger strike was destined to be the turning point of the " Troubles." Presenter: Peter Taylor Producer: Jim Frank Editor: Penny Murphy