Irish Hunger Strikes Chapter 20

Bobby Stands for MP
& the Blanketmen enter a new phase

In accordance to Bobby Sands’ thinking on the matter as the second hunger strike commenced, the blanketmen now were living in clean cells, although they still refused to wear prison clothing and therefore remained naked except for a blanket or towel. But at least they felt semi human again. For the first time in years, not to have to live in your own excrement, not to mention your cellmate’s, was almost an extravagance. They were also allowed some limited movement outside of their cells for a short period each day, which made it easier to communicate and lessen the claustrophobic nature of their 24 hour a day lock-up.

And they got showers. Some of the men, who did not receive forced washes, hadn’t washed in three or four years. They shaved. They gave themselves haircuts. Awful haircuts, but haircuts.

At Mass, they regarded each other with amazement. Who were these strangers? Some were unrecognizable even to themselves.

The Screws Get Screwed

The screws took a major hit in extra pay and overtime. They were getting the equivalent of combat pay to work in the filth and to "administer" beatings and abuse. One was overheard saying, "I’m not sticking my fingers up anyone’s arse if I’m not getting paid for it." The irony wasn’t lost upon the men. For years the screws were torturing them to get them off the protest; now the screws were upset because the men were going off the protest. Joe McQuillan, a blanketman, joked, "If we’d realized years beforehand how much it would hurt them, I’d have been in favor of ending it much sooner!"

Each wing was also given access to a 50 book library of "the worst books imaginable." The only reading they had had for years had been the Bible. Some read it from cover to cover ten times or more. The Brits had unwittingly created hundreds of Irish Republican Biblical scholars.

Not that the torture totally ended. Tomboy Loudon was one of the ones who was beaten over the mirror on the wing shift to a clean wing during this transitional stage. He was then brought to the Prison Officer’s office where he was coldly told his father had just died. Things like that don’t go away with release from jail. They form a permanent jail inside a man’s heart.

Bobby and Francis Hughes were still in their wings with the other men during the early weeks of their hunger strikes, so they were able to talk with comrades, share memories and a joke now and then.

Yes, they now had beds instead of thin, wet and stinking mattresses on the floor, but the men were terribly distracted by thoughts of their comrades on hunger strike and the likelihood they could loose them.

A Parliamentary Seat Becomes Available

Shortly after Frank Maguire’s death [a Member of the British Parliament from Co. Fermanagh], Sinn Fein had to figure out what to do about the vacant seat. Not that they had all that much to think about. Sinn Fein was becoming an electoral presence, but on the local level, never having the resources -- political, financial, or time -- to mount major campaigns, although the Republican Movement certainly could occasionally influence who got elected. Bernadette Devlin’s election to parliament during the civil rights days being a primary example.

In the case of Frank Maguire’s seat, it was largely thought that his brother Noel, 46, would fall into it. He was Frank’s right hand man and was a person of some intellectual and political prowess. He was at one point the political secretary for another leading Fermanagh politician, John Carron, and spent time in Washington D.C. where he was an archivist and a writer. He had traveled the world on various adventures including a trip to the Antarctic. He was an interesting man and natural for the seat.

Sinn Fein’s presence in Fermanagh was slim. One man, 26 year old Owen Carron, was pretty much all there was. He had organized a local H-Block Committee and was a successful campaigner for the first hunger strike around his native Enniskillen. However, when the second hunger strike began, there was very little interest in gearing up for another campaign.

Sands’ Candidacy Voted Down

Carron was called in to meet with the Sinn Fein leadership. His assessment was that Sinn Fein should stay well out of the election. The only possible rival to Noel Maguire was Bernadette McAliskey, if she wanted to run. She was only now able to move about after surviving a UDA assassination attempt in which she took 9 bullets in her body. Another locally popular figure, Bernard O’Connor, was a possibility.

A major meeting was called by Sinn Fein of Fermanagh/South Tyrone republicans. Over 150 showed up. Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein’s V.P. at the time, believed that something was needed to galvanize publicity around the hunger strike, which was going largely unnoticed. He had some support among Sinn Fein’s executive committee for putting forward Bobby Sands’ name for the seat. If, that is, the other Nationalist candidates would stand aside so that Bobby would have a shot. And it could be a long shot fraught with danger. The seat could be lost to a Unionist candidate if Bobby ran. No one knew if the electorate would support a Republican prisoner, an I.R.A. man, much less one on hunger strike. Where would the powerful Catholic Church and other conservative elements within the nationalist community stand? Sinn Fein’s lack of real organizational support in Fermanagh, although it had strong Nationalist feelings, also had to be taken into account.

The meeting, which for security reasons was held across the border in Monaghan, proved contentious for the reasons stated above. A vote went strongly against Bobby’s candidacy.

Bobby To Run for Parliament From a Brit Jail

As Owen Carron left the meeting, he was told by the Sinn Fein leadership to stick around until they met in private. Meanwhile, a group of Owen’s friends from Fermanagh told him that a run by Sands was a good idea and was perhaps even doable. Carron said as much to the Sinn Fein executive after their meeting. They had come to the same conclusion themselves. Bobby Sands would run for the British parliament while on hunger strike in a British jail regardless of the consequences and despite everyone’s reservations. It was becoming a matter of necessity.

Now they needed to do talk the other potential candidates into standing aside. But unbeknownst to those at the meeting, Adams already had a meeting with Bernadette in Belfast, who told him before he asked, "I know what you are looking for and that’s OK."

Gerry and Jim Gibney had also secretly met with Noel Maguire and his family. The meeting was going nowhere until Adams put it to Maguire, "You wouldn’t stand against a hunger striker, would you? " "No," he said, "If a prisoner stands I would withdraw."

But back in jail, Bobby wasn’t doing so well. He was cold all the time. He wrapped himself in the available blankets, but he was still cold, particularly his feet.

On his twenty-third day without food, Bobby developed a sore throat and noticed a marked lack of strength. One of his comrades had begun slopping out for him. On the 23rd of March, Bobby was taken away to see a specialist and then taken directly to the prison hospital, really a small clinic. Before he was taken from his cell, he smuggled his beloved pen, the one he used to write his diary until he couldn’t anymore, on to Bik McFarlane. Bik would put it to painful use over the next months.

Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara Join Bobby and Francis

Francis Hughes, who had been on hunger strike since 15 March, was joined by his cell-mate, Ray McCreesh, and the Irish National Liberation Army OC, Patsy O’Hara. On March 26, a smuggled out comm reported the publicity efforts of the men: 305 comms "sent" out from 1st to 21st of March. It also noted that Francis had lost 11 kilograms in 16 days.

On the same day, March 26, Sinn Fein announced that Bobby Sands would be standing for parliament for Fermanagh-South Tyrone.

Election Thrown Into Chaos by SDLP & Maguire’s Doubts

Noel Maguire, although he agreed to step down, was rethinking his position. Or, rather, it was being rethought for him by the local Catholic clergy, who put forward his nomination papers for him.

Austin Currie, a leading Social Democratic and Labour Party member and ex-Stormont MP, was hot to run in order to block Bobby’s election. Currie, although a Nationalist, was opposed to the IRA and announced that if Maguire didn’t run, he would.

Noel Maguire was coming under great pressure from all sides. His dead brother Frank, although not a Republican per se, was a supporter of the prisoners. So was he. Frank supported and visited his constituents in their cells in the Kesh during the height of the "no-wash, no-slop out" protest. Republicans and nationalists were overflowing Noel Maguire’s mailbox with requests and demands for him not to run. Men’s lives were at stake.

But he couldn’t make himself believe that Bobby Sands, an IRA prisoner on hunger strike, would actually make the run. What if he stood down and Bobby’s candidacy didn’t materialize? The local clergy were pushing Maguire hard not to step down.

Noel Maguire’s papers were already in, so he went ahead planning his campaign.

Meanwhile, Owen Carron, Bobby’s election agent, was frantically collecting the proper papers and signatures needed for his run. Any slip up could be fatal. The election officials were of course Loyalists and would use any technicality to reject the nomination.

Last Second Drama

At 11 am on the final day for lodging election papers, Owen Carron successfully put forward the name of Bobby Sands of Twin Brook Belfast, lately of Long Kesh prison, Irish Republican Army Volunteer, strategist/poet/song writer, long serving Irish POW and Blanketman, for the Fermanagh-South Tyrone seat in Britain’s very own Parliament.

Maguire, sitting in his office figuring out campaign strategy, did not find out about the Sands’ filing until 3:45 pm. He had until 4 pm to withdraw his candidacy, if he going to do it! Without forethought, he had his brother’s son, Frank Og, drive him to Dungannon, where the elections office was situated, ironically in his brother Frank’s old Ford. His election agent, Michael Cunningham, went with them. Any sort of traffic jam would decide the matter.

As the car pulled up to the election office with only a minute to spare, Sinn Fein supporters nearby verbally abused the sight of Cunningham, who was first out of the car. Cunningham was deemed the villain for talking Maguire into running. Reporters were everywhere. Then Maguire stepped out of the car and went up the stairs. Minutes later he reappeared with his election papers in his hand. Bobby Sands was now the sole Nationalist candidate.

Carron and Adams, waiting anxiously in a car nearby, went over to Maguire. They shook his hand hard. He said the following to the press: "It has now become a question of conscience with me. I have been told the only way of saving Bobby Sands’ life is by letting him go forward in the elections. I just cannot have the life of another man on my hands. I am calling my supporters to throw their weight behind Bobby Sands."

Next: Inside The Kesh, Four Men Prepare To Die