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Bobby Sands
MP
Sands in Long Kesh, 1973 (aged 18–19)
Member of Parliament
for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
In office
9 April 1981[1] – 5 May 1981
Preceded byFrank Maguire
Succeeded byOwen Carron
Majority1,447 (2.4%)
Personal details
Born(1954-03-09)9 March 1954
Whiteabbey, Newtownabbey
Northern Ireland
Died5 May 1981(1981-05-05) (aged 27)
Maze, County Down
Northern Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyAnti H-Block
SpouseGeraldine Noade (1972–1981, his death)
ChildrenGerard Sands
Other organisationsProvisional Irish Republican Army volunteer
WebsiteBobby Sands Trust
Military service
Allegiance Provisional IRA
Years of service1972–1981
RankOfficer Commanding
UnitFirst Battalion South West Belfast, Belfast Brigade
ConflictsThe Troubles

Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands (Irish: Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh;[2] 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze.

He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During his strike he was elected to the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate.[3][4] His death was followed by a new surge of Provisional IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.[5]

Early years

Sands was the firstborn son of a Roman Catholic family. His parents were both raised in the Catholic slums of Belfast. After marrying, they relocated to the new development of Abbots Cross in suburban North Belfast, Newtownabbey, County Antrim in an effort to avoid the poverty and sectarian violence of their youth.[6][7] His parents were able to live in a Protestant-dominated neighbourhood (home to three Protestant churches and a Protestant-only school but not a single Catholic church) by deliberately concealing their Catholicism; the fact that Sands was not a traditional Catholic surname aided them in this effort. Bobby Sands was born in 1954, his sisters, Marcella and Bernadette, were born in April 1955 and November 1958, respectively. By 1960, the secret of the Sands's religion had leaked out,[how?] and after experiencing harassment and intimidation from their neighbours, the family abandoned their house and moved in with neighbours for six months before being granted housing in the nearby Rathcoole development. Rathcoole was 30% Catholic and featured Catholic schools as well as a nominally Catholic but religiously-integrated youth football club known as the Star of the Sea, which Bobby was a member of and for whom he played left-back, an unusual circumstance for the time.[8][9] His parents, John and Rosaleen, had another son, John, in 1962.

By 1966, the sectarian violence in Rathcoole (along with the rest of Belfast) had considerably worsened, and the minority Catholic population there found itself under siege; Bobby and his sisters were forced to run a gauntlet of bottle and rock throwing Protestant youths on the way to Catholic school every morning, and the formerly integrated Rathcoole youth football club banned Catholic members and renamed itself "The Kai", which stood for "Kill All Irish". Despite always having Protestant friends, Bobby suddenly found that none of them would even speak to him, and he quickly learned to associate only with Catholics.[8] He left school in 1969 at age 15, and enrolled in Newtownabbey Technical College, beginning an apprenticeship as a coach builder at Alexander's Coach Works in 1970. He worked there for less than a year, enduring constant harassment from his Protestant co-workers, which according to several co-workers he ignored completely, as he truly wished to learn a meaningful trade.[8] He was eventually confronted after leaving his shift in January 1971 by a number of his colleagues wearing the armbands of the local Protestant loyalist Tartan gang, held at gunpoint and told that Alexander's was off-limits to "Fenian scum" and to never come back if he valued his life. This event, by Sands's own admission, proved to be the point at which he realised peaceful coexistence with the local Protestants was no longer possible and decided that counter-militancy was the only answer.[10][11] In June 1972, Bobby's parents' home was attacked and damaged by a loyalist mob and they were again forced to move, this time to the West Belfast Catholic area of Twinbrook, where Bobby, now thoroughly embittered, rejoined them. He attended his first IRA meeting in Twinbrook that month and joined the IRA the same day. By 1973, almost every Catholic family had been driven out of Rathcoole by violence and intimidation.[11][12]

Provisional IRA activity

In 1972, Sands joined the Provisional IRA.[13] He was arrested and charged in October 1972 with possession of four handguns found in the house where he was staying. Sands was convicted in April 1973 sentenced to five years imprisonment and released in April 1976.[14][15]

Upon his release from prison in 1976, he returned to his family home in West Belfast, and resumed his active role in the Provisional IRA. Sands and Joe McDonnell planned the October 1976 bombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry. The showroom was destroyed but as the IRA men left the scene there was a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Leaving behind two wounded, Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett, the remaining four (Sands, McDonnell, Seamus Finucane, and Sean Lavery) tried to escape in a car, but were arrested. One of the revolvers used in the attack was found in the car. In 1977 the four were sentenced to 14 years for possession of the revolver. They were not charged with explosive offences.[16][17]

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.[18]

Long Kesh years

In prison, Sands became a writer of both journalism and poetry, with work published in the Irish republican newspaper An Phoblacht. In late 1980 Sands was chosen as Officer Commanding of the Provisional IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, succeeding Brendan Hughes who was participating in the first hunger strike.

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.[19]

Published works

While in prison Sands had several letters and articles published in the Republican paper An Phoblacht (en: Republican News) under the pseudonym "Marcella". Other writings attributed to him are: Skylark Sing Your Lonely Song[20] and One Day in My Life.[21] Sands also wrote the lyrics of "Back Home in Derry" and "McIlhatton", which were both later recorded by Christy Moore; and he wrote "Sad Song For Susan" which was later recorded. The melody of "Back Home in Derry" was borrowed from Gordon Lightfoot's famous 1976 song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Member of Parliament

Shortly after the beginning of the strike, Frank Maguire, the Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, died suddenly of a heart attack, precipitating the April 1981 by-election.

The sudden vacancy in a seat with a nationalist majority of about 5,000 was a valuable opportunity for Sands's supporters to unite the nationalist community behind their campaign.[11] 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. Sands also became the so-called Baby of the House – the youngest MP at the time.[22] However Sands died in prison less than a month afterwards, without ever having taken his seat in the Commons.[23]

Following Sands's 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.[24][25] This law was introduced to prevent the other hunger strikers from being elected to the British parliament.[26]

Hunger strike

The 1981 Irish hunger strike started with Sands refusing food on 1 March 1981. Sands decided that other prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals to maximise publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months.

The hunger strike centred on five demands:

  1. the right not to wear a prison uniform;
  2. the right not to do prison work;
  3. the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
  4. the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
  5. full restoration of remission lost through the protest.[27]

The significance of the hunger strike was the prisoners' aim of being declared political prisoners (or prisoners of war) as opposed to criminals. The Washington Post reported that the primary aim of the hunger strike was to generate international publicity.[28]

Death

Bobby Sands's grave in Milltown Cemetery

Sands died on 5 May 1981 in Maze prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.[29] The original pathologist's report recorded the hunger strikers' causes of death as "self-imposed starvation", later amended to simply "starvation" after protests from the dead strikers' families.[30] The coroner recorded verdicts of "starvation, self-imposed".[30]

The announcement of Sands's death prompted several days of rioting in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milkman, 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.[31][32] 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.[33] 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".[34]

Reactions

Europe
File:Bobby sands mural in belfast320.jpg
Memorial mural along Falls Road, Belfast

In Europe, there were widespread protests after Sands's death. 5,000 Milanese students burned the Union Flag and chanted 'Freedom for Ulster' during a march.[5] The British Consulate at Ghent was raided.[5] Thousands marched in Paris behind huge portraits of Sands, to chants of 'the IRA will conquer'.[5] In the Portuguese Parliament, the opposition stood for Sands.[5] In Oslo, demonstrators threw a tomato at Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom, but missed (The 28-year-old assailant claimed that he had not aimed for the queen, but rather for a smirking British soldier).[5][35] In the Soviet Union, Pravda described it as 'another tragic page in the grim chronicle of oppression, discrimination, terror, and violence' in Ireland. Russian fans of Bobby Sands published a translation of the "Back Home in Derry" song ("На Родину в Дерри" in Russian).[5] Many French towns and cities have streets named after Sands, including in Nantes, Saint-Étienne, Le Mans, Vierzon, and Saint-Denis.[36] In the Republic of Ireland, Sands's death led to riots and bus burning. The West German newspaper Die Welt took a negative view of Sands.[5]

Africa

News of the death of Bobby Sands influenced the way in which political prisoners and the ANC in South Africa responded to their own situation, and inspired a new way of resistance.[37][38] Nelson Mandela was said to have been "directly influenced by Bobby Sands",[37] and instigated a successful hunger strike on Robben Island.

Americas

A number of political, religious, union and fund-raising institutions chose to honour Sands in the United States. The International Longshoremen's Association in New York announced a 24-hour boycott of British ships.[39][40] Over 1,000 people gathered in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral to hear Cardinal Terence Cooke offer a Mass of reconciliation for Northern Ireland. Irish bars in the city were closed for two hours in mourning.[5] In Hartford, Connecticut a memorial was dedicated to Bobby Sands and the other hunger strikers in 1997, the only one of its kind in the United States. Set up by the Irish Northern Aid Committee and local Irish-Americans, it stands in a traffic circle known as Bobby Sands Circle at the bottom of Maple Avenue near Goodwin Park.[41]

The New Jersey General Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, voted 34–29 for a resolution honouring his "courage and commitment."[5]

The US media expressed a range of opinions on Sands's death. The Boston Globe commented that "[t]he slow suicide attempt of Bobby Sands has cast his land and his cause into another downward spiral of death and despair. There are no heroes in the saga of Bobby Sands."[42] The Chicago Tribune wrote that "Mahatma Gandhi used the hunger strike to move his countrymen to abstain from fratricide. Bobby Sands' deliberate slow suicide is intended to precipitate civil war. The former deserved veneration and influence. The latter would be viewed, in a reasonable world, not as a charismatic martyr but as a fanatical suicide, whose regrettable death provides no sufficient occasion for killing others."[43]

The New York Times wrote that "Britain's prime minister Thatcher is right in refusing to yield political status to Bobby Sands, the Irish Republican Army hunger striker," but that by appearing "unfeeling and unresponsive" the British Government was giving Sands "the crown of martyrdom."[44] The San Francisco Chronicle argued that political belief should not exempt activists from criminal law: "Terrorism goes far beyond the expression of political belief. And dealing with it does not allow for compromise as many countries of Western Europe and United States have learned. The bombing of bars, hotels, restaurants, robbing of banks, abductions, and killings of prominent figures are all criminal acts and must be dealt with by criminal law."[45]

Some American critics and journalists suggested that American press coverage was a "melodrama".[46] One journalist in particular criticised the large pro-IRA Irish-American contingent which "swallow IRA propaganda as if it were taffy," and concluded that IRA "terrorist propaganda triumphs."[47]

Archbishop John R. Roach, president of the US Catholic bishops, called Sands's death "a useless sacrifice".[48] The Ledger of 5 May 1981 under the headline “To some he was a hero, to others a terrorist” claims that the hunger strike made Sands "a hero among Irish Republicans or Nationalists seeking the reunion of Protestant-dominated and British-ruled Northern Ireland with the predominantly Catholic Irish Republic to the south."[49]

The Ledger cited Sands as telling his friends: “If I die, God will understand," and one of his last messages to them being, “Tell everyone I’ll see them somewhere, sometime.”[49]

In 2001, a memorial to Sands and the other hunger strikers was unveiled in Havana, Cuba.[50]

Asia and the Middle East
  • In Tehran, Iran, President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr sent a message of condolence to the Sands family.[51] The government renamed Winston Churchill Boulevard, the location of the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tehran, to Bobby Sands Street, prompting the embassy to move its entrance door to Ferdowsi Avenue to avoid using Bobby Sands Street on its letterhead.[52] A street in the Elahieh district is also named after Sands.[53] An official blue and white street sign was affixed to the rear wall of the British embassy compound saying (in Persian) "Bobby Sands Street" with three words of explanation "militant Irish guerrilla".[51][54] The official Pars News Agency called Bobby Sands's death "heroic".[51] There have subsequently been claims that the British foreign secretary has pressured Iranian authorities to change the name of Bobby Sands Street but this is denied.[55][56][57] A burger bar in Tehran is named in honour of Sands.[58][59]
  • In Israel/Palestine, Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in the Israeli desert prison of Nafha sent a letter, which was smuggled out and reached Belfast in July 1981, which read;

"To the families of Bobby Sands and his martyred comrades. We, revolutionaries of the Palestinian people...extend our salutes and solidarity with you in the confrontation against the oppressive terrorist rule enforced upon the Irish people by the British ruling elite. We salute the heroic struggle of Bobby Sands and his comrades, for they have sacrificed the most valuable possession of any human being. They gave their lives for freedom."

  • The Hindustan Times said Margaret Thatcher had allowed a fellow Member of Parliament to die of starvation, an incident which had never before occurred "in a civilised country."[5]
  • In the Indian Parliament, opposition members in the upper house Rajya Sabha stood for a minute's silence in tribute. The ruling Congress Party did not join in.[5] Protest marches were organised against the British government and in tribute to Sands and his fellow hunger strikers.[60]
  • The Hong Kong Standard said it was 'sad that successive British governments have failed to end the last of Europe's religious wars.'[5]
  • A large monument dedicated to Irish protagonists for independence from Britain, including Bobby Sands, stands in the Waverley Cemetery in Sydney.
United Kingdom

At Old Firm football matches in Glasgow, Scotland, some Rangers fans have been known to sing songs mocking Bobby Sands to taunt fans of Celtic. Rangers fans are mainly Protestant, and predominantly sympathetic to the Unionist and Loyalist community; Celtic fans are traditionally more likely to support the Nationalist and Republican community.[61] Celtic fans regularly sing the republican song "The Roll of Honour" which commemorates the ten men who died in the 1981 hunger strike, amongst other songs in support of the IRA. Sands is honoured in the line "They stood beside their leader – the gallant Bobby Sands." Rangers's taunts have since been adopted by the travelling support of other UK clubs, particularly those with strong British ties, as a form of anti-Irish sentiment.[62] The 1981 British Home Championship football tournament was cancelled following the refusal of teams from England and Wales to travel to Northern Ireland in the aftermath of his death due to security concerns.

Cardinal Basil Hume, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, condemned Sands, describing the hunger strike as a form of violence. However he noted that this was his personal view. The Roman Catholic Church's official stance was that ministrations should be provided to the hunger strikers who, believing their sacrifice to be for a higher good, were acting in good conscience.[49]

Political impact

Nine other IRA and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) members who were involved in the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike died after Sands. On the day of Sands's funeral, Unionist leader Ian Paisley held a memorial service outside of Belfast city hall to commemorate the victims of the IRA.[39] In the Irish general elections held the same year, two anti H-block candidates won seats on an abstentionist basis.

The media coverage that surrounded the death of Sands resulted in a new surge of IRA activity and an immediate escalation in the Troubles, with the group obtaining many more members and increasing its fund-raising capability. Both nationalists and unionists began to harden their attitudes and move towards political extremes.[63] Sands's Westminster seat was taken by his election agent, Owen Carron standing as 'Anti H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner' with an increased majority.[64]

Main article: Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike
Éire Nua flute band inspired by Bobby Sands, commemorate the Easter Rising on the 91st anniversary.

The Grateful Dead played the Nassau Coliseum the following night after Sands died and guitarist Bob Weir dedicated the song "He's Gone" to Sands.[65] The concert was later released as Dick's Picks Volume 13, part of the Grateful Dead's programme of live concert releases. French musician Léo Ferré dedicated performances of his song "Thank You Satan" to Sands in 1981 and 1984.

Songs written in response to the hunger strikes and Sands's death include songs by Black 47, Nicky Wire, Meic Stevens, The Undertones,[66] Bik McFarlane and Eric Bogle. Christy Moore's song, "The People's Own MP", has been described as an example of a rebel song of the "hero-martyr" genre in which Sands's "intellectual, artistic and moral qualities" are eulogised.[67] American rock band Rage Against the Machine have listed Sands as an inspiration in the sleeve notes of their self-titled début album.[68] and as a "political hero" in media interviews.[69]

Celtic F.C., a Scottish football club, received a €50,000 fine from UEFA over banners depicting Sands and a political message, displayed during a game on November 26, 2013,[70] by Green Brigade[71] fans.

Bobby Sands has also been portrayed in the following films:

Family

Sands married Geraldine Noade while in prison on robbery charges on 3 March 1973. His son, Gerard, was born 8 May 1973. Noade soon left to live in England with their son.[11]

Sands's 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.[77] 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."[78]

See also

References

  1. ^ "1981: Hunger striker elected MP". BBC On This Day - 10 April. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  2. ^ "Legacy of Cage Eleven". Nuzhound.com. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Hunger Strike 1980–82". BBC News. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  4. ^ "CAIN: Politics: Elections: Westminster By-election (NI) Thursday 9 April 1981". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. 9 April 1981. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "CAIN archive at the University of Ulster". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. 5 May 1981. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  6. ^ Feehan, Bobby Sands MP and the Tragedy of Northern Ireland, p. 17
  7. ^ Sands, Writings from Prison
  8. ^ a b c O'Hearn, Bobby Sands: Nothing but an Unfinished Song
  9. ^ Donegan, Lawrence (23 November 1999). "Never mind poor old Evita, cry for Star of the Sea". The Guardian. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  10. ^ Feehan, Bobby Sands and the Tragedy of Northern Ireland, pp. 13–14
  11. ^ a b c d David Beresford (1987). Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. London: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-586-06533-4.
  12. ^ O'Hearn, Nothing but an unfinished song: Bobby Sands, ch. 1
  13. ^ Geraghty, The Irish War, pp. 68–70
  14. ^ Morrison, Cain Biography (Cain.ulst.ac.uk), s. 'intro'
  15. ^ Hanke, Philip (2011). Bobby Sands – An Irish Martyr?. GRIN Verlag. p. 20. ISBN 978-3-640-85967-2.
  16. ^ English, Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, pp. 196–198
  17. ^ Kevin Toolis (12 December 2011). Rebel Hearts. Pan Macmillan. pp. 133–. ISBN 978-1-4472-1748-0.
  18. ^ Hanke, Philip (2011). Bobby Sands – An Irish Martyr?. GRIN Verlag. p. 21. ISBN 978-3-640-85967-2.
  19. ^ Taylo, Provos, The IRA and Sinn Féin, pp. 251–252
  20. ^ 1989, Mercier Press, ISBN 0-85342-726-7
  21. ^ 2001, Mercier Press, ISBN 1-85635-349-4
  22. ^ BBC News,1981: Hunger striker elected MP (April 1981)
  23. ^ Mr Bobby Sands. "Mr Bobby Sands, former MP, Fermanagh and South Tyrone". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  24. ^ Julian Haviland, "Bill to stop criminal candidates", The Times, 13 June 1981, p. 2.
  25. ^ Gay, Template:Wayback (October 2004)
  26. ^ Carol, Constitutional and administrative law, p. 112
  27. ^ ON THIS DAY 1981: Violence erupts at Irish hunger strike protest, BBC News
  28. ^ Washington Post, 3 May 1981, 2–3
  29. ^ http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/proni/1981/proni_NIO-12-194A_1981-05-05.pdf
  30. ^ a b O'Keeffe, "Suicide and Self-Starvation Suicide and Self-starvation", Philosophy, Vol. 59, No. 229 (Jul. 1984), pp. 349–363
  31. ^ Malcolm Sutton. "An Index of Deaths from Conflict in Ireland". CAIN. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  32. ^ "A Chronology of the Conflict – 1981". CAIN. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  33. ^ "University of Ulster CAIN archive". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  34. ^ "1981 5 May Tu Margaret Thatcher House of Commons PQs". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
  35. ^ "Punker siktet for majestetsfornærmelse". Oslo: Aftenposten. 7 May 1981.
  36. ^ Colin Randall (13 August 2004). "French intelligentsia ponders what should be done with killer". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
  37. ^ a b Bobby Sands – An Irish Martyr? – Philip Hanke – Google Books
  38. ^ Republicans never so close to victory- McBride | An Phoblacht
  39. ^ a b Russell, George (18 May 1981). "Shadow of a Gunman". Time. Retrieved 14 August 2007. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ "NYU". Nyu.edu. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  41. ^ "Details of the Hartford memorial". Homestead.com. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  42. ^ "The Saga of Bobby Sands", Boston Globe, 3 May 1981
  43. ^ "Bobby Sands and Mahatma Gandhi", Chicago Tribune, 28 April 1981
  44. ^ "Britain's Gift to Bobby Sands", The New York Times, 29 April 1981
  45. ^ "The Death of Bobby Sands", San Francisco Chronicle, 6 May 1981
  46. ^ "Sands' hunger strike and the fate of Ulster" Boston Globe, 1 May 1981, 9
  47. ^ "IRA brutalities, Terrorist propaganda triumphs" by Edward Langley Chicago Tribune, 9 May 1981, W1-8-4
  48. ^ "News.Google.com". Google News. 16 May 1981. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  49. ^ a b c "The Ledger, Tuesday, May 5, 1981". Google News. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  50. ^ "Adams unveils Cuba memorial to Bobby Sands". breakingnews.ie. 18 December 2001. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
  51. ^ a b c The Times, 11 June 1981
  52. ^ Bobby Sands: Nothing But An Unfinished Song by Denis O'Hearn (ISBN 9-7453-2572-6), p. 377
  53. ^ Majd, Hooman. The Ayatollah Begs to Differ. Doubleday. 2008. 244–245.
  54. ^ OIPUI.edu, 'Naming Bobby Sands Street', The Blanket, 24 February 2004
  55. ^ Irlandinit-hd.de, British government pressure Ireland to change the name of Bobby Sands Street
  56. ^ Template:Wayback, British government pressure Irani Government to change name of Bobby Sands Street
  57. ^ . FCO.gov.uk http://ukiniran.fco.gov.uk/en/our-offices-in-iran/contact-us/location-map. Retrieved 26 April 2010. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) [dead link]
  58. ^ Lai See | South China Morning Post
  59. ^ Strange Times in Persia- Welcome to Iran a Travellers account (Part One) | Catch21 Productions
  60. ^ John Wight: Over Three Decades On The Death Of Bobby Sands Still Resonates
  61. ^ Tom Shields (23 February 2003). "Pitch Battles; What can an English public school-type tell us about". The Sunday Herald. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
  62. ^ Lash, Scott & Lury, Celia. Global Culture Industry: The Mediation of Things, Polity, 2007, p. 49. ISBN 0-7456-2482-0
  63. ^ W.D. Flackes and Sydney Elliott, "Northern Ireland: A Political Directory" (Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1999), at p. 550, notes that at the 1981 District Council elections on 20 May 1981, "the results showed a decline in support for centre parties".
  64. ^ Nicholas Whyte. "Ark Election website". Ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  65. ^ A Long Strange Trip by Dennis McNally, p. 542
  66. ^ Template:Wayback
  67. ^ Boyle, Mark. Edifying the Rebellious Gael, in Celtic Geographies: Old Culture, New Times (David Harvey, ed). Routledge, 2002. p. 190. ISBN 0-415-22396-2
  68. ^ Template:Wayback, notes » 2004 » March
  69. ^ RATM.net, Rage Against the Machine: Articles
  70. ^ "Celtic fined €50k for Bobby Sands banner". Celtic Football Club has been fined €50,000 over a banner depicting IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands
  71. ^ "Celtic Green Brigade's Bobby Sands Banner - Is It Offensive? (POLL)". The Green Brigade supporters displayed a banner of Sands alongside Scottish warrior William Wallace, in an effort to highlight hypocrisy of the Scottish government, which has jailed Celtic fans for singing Republican songs in commemoration of Sands.
  72. ^ IMDB: Some Mother's Son
  73. ^ IMDB: H3
  74. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (11 May 2008). "Anger as new film of IRA hero Bobby Sands screens at Cannes". The Observer. London. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  75. ^ Bobby Sands film wins Cannes award. Available on RTE.ie. Retrieved 26 May 2008.
  76. ^ "Bobby Sands story to become movie". BBC. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2007.
  77. ^ Toolis, "McKevitt's inglorious career", The Observer (2003)
  78. ^ English, Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, pp. 316–317
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone
1981 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Baby of the House
1981 		Succeeded by

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