Exactly 43 years ago, on May 5, 1981, revolutionary and poet Bobby Sands died on the 66th day of the hunger strike he started against prison conditions that trampled human dignity and rights.
Robert Gerard Sands (9 March 1954; Belfast, Ireland - 5 May 1981; Long Kesh Prison, Ireland) was a Northern Irish politician. Following the Republican ideology he was introduced to at a young age, he joined the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1972 and spent most of his short life in prison.
He was elected to Parliament in 1981 with the organized effort he initiated during the hunger strike he started to improve the status of political prisoners, but he passed away on the 66th day of the 1981 Irish hunger strike he led. All that remains from Sands, one of the youngest and most beloved figures in the history of world struggle, are his poems, lyrics, and diaries. The last sentence in his diary was 'Tiocfaidh ár lá (Our day too will come). The poems he wrote in prison were published under the name Prison Poems.
Robert Gerard Sands (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland. Sands helped to plan the 1976 Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in Dunmurry, which was followed by a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Sands was arrested while trying to escape and sentenced to 14 years for firearms possession.
Bobby Sands' life story
Sands, who became the symbol of Ireland's struggle for independence, was described by his close friend and comrade Séanna Walsh: “He fought for a better world system based on social justice, equality, and freedom; A world where working men and women do not face discrimination based on class, religion or gender…"
The process by which Britain ended Ireland's independence dates back to the 16th century. The struggle history of the Irish who did not bow to colonialism is full of resisters who lost their lives. So how did Bobby Sands become the immortal symbol of the Irish struggle for independence? What does this unique life, knitted with resistance, poetry, music, and courage, even in terrible conditions, tell us?
Bobby Sands, who loves football and running, is the child of an Irish Catholic family. He plays in a football team where no one questions each other's religion or race. In his world, Protestant and Catholic children are one. But Bobby's football team disbands...
By the teenage years, religious sectarianism and the practices of Protestants against Catholics turn into acts of violence. The massacres and unlawful actions carried out by the British Army against the Catholic Irish faced strong resistance; The strong resistance of young people with no political background, like Bobby and Séanna... Séanna Walsh, who joined the IRA in this resistance and is now a member of the Belfast city council, describes the history of the struggle and those days as follows:
“Young people like me and Bobby joined the armed struggle for many different reasons. We have never accepted the legitimacy of Northern Ireland. When the state of Northern Ireland was established in May 1921, the first prime minister said that it was 'a Protestant parliament for Protestants'. Thus, he openly stated that he had made Catholics, one-third of the population, second-class citizens. When the Catholic Irish demanded civil rights between 1967 and 1969, the pro-British government responded only with violence and repression. When we responded to this violence, the British Army brought repression to strengthen the state. In July 1970 British Army generals appeared on television and declared that they were at war with the IRA. This was the policy followed by the British State in Ireland until the 1990s! In 1971, they introduced the practice of detention without trial. At this point, Irish nationalists wanted to go beyond civil rights and end partition. As the war intensified, British soldiers seized apartment blocks, houses, hospitals, gyms, and schools and turned them into castles in nationalist areas. We were under military occupation. Under these circumstances, we have decided to join the armed struggle with a view to putting an end to the interference of the British Government in Irish affairs.”
The bakery where Bobby's father works is seized by the army, and his cousins are arrested. One year after joining the IRA in 1972, he was imprisoned on charges of robbery. It is in this prison that Séanna, who lied about his age to join the IRA, meets Bobby. Bobby, who had been in prison for 4 months when Séanna was arrested, explains the rules of the prison to his new friend...
Meanwhile, most of the IRA prisoners in prison are teenagers like Bobby and Séanna. Most are there for crimes such as robbery or carrying weapons. They don't even understand exactly why they are there yet... During this period, they start reading other resistance struggles and political books taking place in the world.
After being released from prison, Bobby's faith in Sinn Fein, the political arm of the struggle, increases. The idea that social consciousness will be achieved among all Catholic Irish through Sinn Fein excites him. He starts publishing the newspaper "Liberty" against the media which closes its eyes and ears to his people's struggle for independence. His companion Séanna Walsh and Eibhlin Glenholmes become engaged and they move near the house where Bobby and his wife Geraldine live.
According to Denis O'hearn in his book "An Unfinished Song: Bobby Sands", inspired by a poem written by Nâzım Hikmet in Bursa Prison, Eibhlin Glenholmes would say the following years later: "We all thought this was the beginning of our lives. We thought the four of us would remain friends forever and watch our children grow up together. “Looking back, it was the best time of my life.”
'WE WERE STRIPPED NAKED AND CONSTANTLY EXPERIENCED VIOLENCE'
But soon Séanna and Bobby are reunited in prison. Séanna Walsh describes this period, initiated by Bobby, in which he and his 9 comrades would starve their bodies, as follows:
“After a 35-day hunger strike in 1972, during peace talks with the British Government, the IRA prisoners demanded to be treated as prisoners of war. In March 1976, in an effort to destroy the spirit and morale of the Republican Resistance Movement, the British announced that they were ending this status. IRA prisoners refused to be labeled criminals, to be forced to do prison work, and to wear uniforms. We were stripped naked and subjected to constant violence. We were imprisoned in our cells for 24 hours. No exercise. No visiting permission. No access to toilet or shower. No books, radio or television. These terrible conditions pushed us to go on hunger strike; "To stop doing the menial work in prison and be able to wear our own clothes."
'WE KEPT OUR MORALE HIGH BY SINGING SONGS'
Bobby, Séanna, and the rest of their comrades wrap themselves in blankets, rejecting the uniform. They are remembered as “blanket men”. “In these dark days,” says Séanna Walsh, 42, who spent 21 years of his life in prison, “we kept our spirits up by learning Irish and singing songs.” In H Blocks, where terrible conditions are applied, IRA members communicate among themselves and convey the violence inside to the world, using paper, pens and stretch films secretly taken from their relatives during their meetings. They continue to write not only news but also poems and songs, with the motivation to keep the resistance strong.