Irish Hunger Strikes Chapter 15

The Pressure Mounts:
Twenty-two More Join The "First" Hunger Strike as Men Near Death

As the original seven Blanketmen were entering their fiftieth day on hunger strike, twenty-two more men refused to take all food. There were three women in Armagh jail already on hunger strike.

David Beresford, in his well researched and sympathetic book on the hunger strike, Ten Men Dead, observed that there were several flaws in the Republican strategy of starting seven men simultaneously on the protest. The most serious being the fact that, although there would be greater initial publicity surrounding a "mass" hunger strike, several or all of the men could theoretically reach the crisis stage at the same time causing a publicity nightmare for the movement in the streets and in the media, not to mention the psychological distress. More importantly, as Beresford put it, "It meant that they were as strong as the weakest of their number."

Beresford makes another good point. Brendan Hughes was under an incredible amount of pressure. Deciding whether a deal was sufficient or not to call off the strike or to carry on in the face of the impending death of seven men was too much for a man on hunger strike himself. It is one thing to face one’s own death at the "moment of truth", and having to make difficult decisions, but Brendan was in the unenviable position of having the lives and deaths of his six comrades on his conscience as well.

This was a lesson that was to be well learned when the fateful Hunger Strike of 1981 was undertaken.

Behind the scenes

There was constant work going on behind the scenes between Dublin and London. Cardinal O’Fiaich was also prominent in negotiating ways for the men to be saved with dignity and with their demands met, or at least developing a reasonable compromise that would accomplish the same end.

On the streets of the Six-counties, sympathizers marched and protested. They were soon joined by supporters in Dublin, England, Australia, Europe and in America.

On December 10, 1980, an official from the Northern Ireland Office spoke personally to the hunger strikers. Finally there seemed to be a breakthrough possible. Later the prisoners received a 34 page document from the British government with details of a potential deal.

In this document was a statement that Humphrey Atkins [British direct-ruler for the north of Ireland] was to deliver to the House of Commons.

The critical section was: "I want to spell out for you and your families what will happen when the protest ends. First of all, any such prisoner will be put into a clean cell as, I hope, all prisoners end their protest. We shall have the task of cleaning out all of the cells right away and this should take a week or 10 days. Within a few days clothing provided by the families will be given to any prisoners giving up their protest so that they can wear it during recreation, association and visits..."

The Republican prisoners thought that maybe a formula could be worked out based upon this, particularly solving the issues of civilian clothing and association.

This was the message that Bobby Sands, who had taken over for Brendan Hughes as OC of the protesting Blocks, spread throughout the blocks for the men to consider.

But there was another matter that was pressuring Bobby, the Dark, and the men to decide and decide in a hurry: 26-year-old Sean McKenna was dying. And he was dying now.

Sean McKenna Nears Death

Sean McKenna, one of the original seven to go on hunger strike, suddenly became very ill. He had been a common sense choice for the hunger strike, having been rounded up illegally [i.e., kidnapped] by the SAS in the 26-Counties and then tortured in Bessbrooke Barracks in Co. Armagh. His father was one of those men who was brutalized by the Brits during the 1971 internment raids. Even the Dublin government, not prone to stand up to the British government, took them to the European Commission of Human Rights because of the horrors inflicted upon these men. Sean’s father died at the age of forty-two due the cruel and degrading treatment he received at the hands of the Brits. Sean McKenna was a good candidate for the hunger strike, all right.

But by the forty eighth day, he had already gone blind and was in critical condition.

The "First" Hunger Strike Ends

Sean Lennon wrote of how it was at this stage of the strike for the Blanketmen not on it: "During the hunger strike I don’t think there was a time when I believed the Brits were going to break. I hoped for it every minute of the day, but that’s all it was; ‘live in hope, may you die in despair!’ Every day was an uphill struggle. I thought about how I would react to the death of one of the lads. I saw lots of my friends and comrades die during this struggle and every time it happened my heart was sore. But never before had I seen a comrade die in such a violent manner as what death by hunger strike must surely be. I continually told myself to be strong and prepared for the worst that was to come. During yarns with the lads out the door or at the pipes we never spoke about their deaths coming, although it was always to the fore of our minds. It was a sort of unspoken rule..."

Leo Green was one of the men approaching the crisis stage of his fast. He recalls: "In those last days of the hunger strike everyone’s condition began to deteriorate much more rapidly than before. My hearing began to give trouble whereas the eyesight of the others was badly affected. Our speech became a little slurred and walking was faltered. Sean McKenna, in particular, was by now critically ill and Tommy McKearney not far behind.

"On the morning of 18 December, we were visited by a priest who had been involved in mediation. He had been in touch with the Haughey government, the Brits and the Republican Movement simultaneously. He assured us that a solution was there and that he would be back later that evening confirming it. As evening approached, preparations were made to transfer Sean McKenna to an outside hospital. He was lapsing in and out of a coma. We decided at around six o’clock, on the basis of the assurances we had earlier that day received, to end the hunger strike. A few more hours would be needed for what lay behind these assurances to be clarified, but in a few hours Sean McKenna would be dead."

Next: The Brit "Deal" -- Solution or Despair?