May 5, 1981 · HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) Theater
May 5, 1981
Republican prisoners demanding political status went on hunger strike in the Maze prison. Their leader, Bobby Sands, was elected a Member of Parliament while starving, drawing global attention, before dying after 66 days; nine more strikers died over the following months as Margaret Thatcher refused to concede. The prisoners eventually ended the strike, but most of their demands were quietly granted.
Commanders