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The dirty protest (also called the no wash protest[1]) was part of a five year protest during the Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) prisoners held in the Maze prison (also known as "Long Kesh") and Armagh Women's Prison in Northern Ireland. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Óglaigh na hÉireann ( IRA; also referred to as the PIRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the The Irish National Liberation Army ( INLA; Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann in Irish is an Irish Republican, Left-wing paramilitary organisation Her Majesty's Prison Maze (known colloquially as The H Blocks, Long Kesh, or The Maze) was a Prison used to house Paramilitary prisoners Armagh Prison in Northern Ireland was the scene of a protest by female Irish Republican prisoners demanding political status although the numbers involved were much Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of

Contents

Background

Convicted paramilitary prisoners were treated as ordinary criminals until July 1972, when Special Category Status was introduced following a hunger strike by 40 IRA prisoners led by the veteran republican Billy McKee. A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military force but which are not regarded as having the same status A hunger strike is a method of Non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political Protest, or to provoke feelings of Billy McKee ( Liam Mac Aoidh; is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA Special Category, or political, status meant prisoners were treated very much like prisoners of war, for example, not having to wear prison uniforms or do prison work. [2] In 1976, as part of the policy of "criminalisation", the British Government brought an end to Special Category Status for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland. The policy was not introduced for existing prisoners, but for those convicted after 1 March 1976. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [3] The end to Special Category Status was a serious threat to the authority which the paramilitary leaderships inside prison had been able to exercise over their own men, as well as being a propaganda blow. [2] The imminent withdrawal of Special Category Status caused relations between the prisoners and prison officers to deteriorate, and in early 1976 the IRA leaders in prison sent word to the IRA Army Council asking them to begin assassinating prison officers, stating "we are prepared to die for political status. The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA a Paramilitary group dedicated to bringing Those who try to take it away from us must be fully prepared to pay the same price". [4] Outside the prison the IRA responded by shooting prison officer Patrick Dillon in April 1976, the first of nineteen prison officers to be killed during the five year protest. [5] On 14 September 1976 newly convicted prisoner Kieran Nugent began the blanket protest, in which IRA and INLA prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and either went naked or fashioned garments from prison blankets. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Kieran "Header" Nugent ( Irish: Ciarán Núinnseann, 1958 - 4 May, 2000) was a volunteer in the Provisional The blanket protest (Agóid na mBlancéid was part of a five year protest during The Troubles by Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA and Irish National Liberation [3]

Dirty protest

In March 1978 some prisoners refused to leave their cells to shower or use the lavatory because of attacks by prison officers, and were provided with wash-hand basins in their cells. [5] The prisoners requested showers installed in their cells, and when this request was turned down they refused to use the wash-hand basins. [5] At the end of April 1978 a fight occurred between a prisoner and a prison officer in H-Block 6. The prisoner was taken away to solitary confinement, and news spread across the wing that the prisoner had been badly beaten. Solitary confinement, colloquially referred to in American English as "the hole" or "the pound" (or in British English "the block" is a Punishment [5] The prisoners responded by smashing the furniture in their cells, and the prison authorities responded by removing the remaining furniture from the cells leaving the prisoners in cells with just blankets and mattresses. [5] The prisoners responded by refusing to leave their cells, and as a result the prison officers were unable to clear them. This resulted in the blanket protest escalating into the dirty protest, as the prisoners were unable to "slop out" (i. Slopping out is the emptying of Buckets of Human waste when the cells are unlocked in Prisons in the morning e. , empty their chamber pots) so resorted to smearing excrement on the walls of their cells. [6] Pat McGeown described the conditions inside the prison in a 1985 interview:

There were times when you would vomit. Pat "Beag" McGeown ( 3 September 1956 &ndash 1 October 1996) was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army There were times when you were so run down that you would lie for days and not do anything with the maggots crawling all over you. The rain would be coming in the window and you would be lying there with the maggots all over the place. [7]

The prison authorities attempted to keep the cells clean by breaking the cell windows and spraying in disinfectant, then temporarily removing the prisoners and sending in rubber-suited prison officers with steam hoses to clean the walls. Disinfectants are Antimicrobial agents that are applied to non-living objects to destroy Microorganisms, the process of which is known as disinfection. However, as soon as the prisoners were returned to their cells they resumed their protest. [7] By mid-1978 there were between 250 and 300 protesting prisoners, and the protest was attracting media attention from around the world. [7] Tomás Ó Fiaich, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, visited the prison on 31 July 1978 and condemned the conditions there:

Having spent the whole of Sunday in the prison, I was shocked at the inhuman conditions prevailing in H-Blocks, three, four and five, where over 300 prisoners were incarcerated. Tomás Séamus Cardinal Ó Fiaich ( November 3, 1923 – May 8, 1990) was an Irish Cardinal, Roman Catholic The Archdiocese of Armagh ( Latin: Archidioecesis Ardmachana; Irish: Ard-Deoise Ard Mhacha) was founded by St Events 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian 's forces but most of his army subsequently Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) One would hardly allow an animal to remain in such conditions, let alone a human being. The nearest approach to it that I have seen was the spectacle of hundreds of homeless people living in the sewer pipes in the slums of Calcutta. The stench and filth in some of the cells, with the remains of rotten food and human excreta scattered around the walls was almost unbearable. In two of them I was unable to speak for fear of vomiting. [8]

Despite the conditions, Ó Fiaich said the morale of the prisoners was high:

From talking to them [he wrote] it is evident that they intend to continue their protest indefinitely and it seems they prefer to face death rather than to submit to being classed as criminals. Anyone with the least knowledge of Irish history knows how deeply this attitude is in our country's past. In isolation and perpetual boredom they maintain their sanity by studying Irish. It was an indication of the triumph of the human spirit over adverse material conditions to notice Irish words, phrases and songs being shouted from cell to cell and then written on each cell wall with the remnants of toothpaste tubes. [9]

The protest continued with no sign of compromise from the British government, and by late 1979 nine out of ten newly arriving prisoners were choosing to join the protest. [10] In January 1980 the prisoners issued a statement outlining what were known as the "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. [11]

In February 1980, Mairéad Farrell and over thirty other prisoners in Armagh Women's Prison joined the dirty protest following a series of disputes with the prison governor including allegations they had been ill-treated by male prison officers. Mairéad Farrell ('Máiréad Ní Fhearghail'/ Mairéad Ní Fhearail;1957 - 1988 was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army [12] In June 1980 the British government's position was strengthened when the European Commission of Human Rights rejected a case by four prisoners including Kieran Nugent that conditions inside the prison were "inhuman". European Commission of Human Rights was a special Tribunal. From 1954 to the entry into force of Protocol 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals The Commission's ruling was that the conditions were self-inflicted and "designed to enlist sympathy for the [prisoners'] political aims'. [11]

Hunger strikes

On 27 October 1980, IRA members Brendan Hughes, Tommy McKearney, Raymond McCartney, Tom McFeeley, Sean McKenna, Leo Green, and INLA member John Nixon,[13] began a hunger strike aimed at restoring political status for paramilitary prisoners by securing the "Five Demands". Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Brendan Hughes (1948 – 16 February 2008) also known as "The Dark", who was mainly known as the leader of the 1980 Irish hunger strike Tommy McKearney (b 1952 Moy County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Republican, and former Hunger striker and volunteer within Raymond McCartney ((Scottish Réamann McCartney. 1954 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is a Sinn Féin politician and a former Hunger striker [11] After a fifty-three day hunger strike with McKenna lapsing in and out of a coma and on the brink of death, the government appeared to concede the essence of the prisoners' five demands with a thirty page document detailing a proposed settlement. With the document in transit to Belfast, Hughes took the decision to save McKenna's life and end the strike after 53 days on 18 December. Events 218 BC - Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia - Hannibal 's Carthaginian forces defeat those of the [11] In January 1981 it became clear that the prisoners' demands had not been conceded. On 4 February the prisoners issued a statement saying that the British government had failed to resolve the crisis and declared their intention of "hunger striking once more". Events 211 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons [14] The 1981 Irish hunger strike began on 1 March when Bobby Sands refused food,[15] and the dirty protest ended the following day. The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Robert Gerard Sands (Roibeard Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh commonly known as Bobby Sands, (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981 was a Provisional Irish Republican Army [16] By the time the hunger strike ended on 3 October ten men, including Sands, had starved themselves to death. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's [15] Two days later, the incoming Northern Ireland Secretary, James Prior, announced a number of changes in prison policy, including that from then on all paramilitary prisoners would be allowed to wear their own clothes at all times. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is the chief minister in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland James Michael Leathes Prior Baron Prior, PC, known as Jim Prior, (born 11 October 1927) is a British Politician, [17]

References

  1. ^ Melanie McFadyean (4 March 2006). Events 51 - Nero, later to become Roman Emperor, is given the title Princeps iuventutis (head of the youth Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The legacy of the hunger strikes. The Guardian. The Guardian (until 1959 The Manchester Guardian) is a British Newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Retrieved on 2007-10-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western
  2. ^ a b Beresford, David (1987). Ten Men Dead. Atlantic Monthly Press, pp. Grove/Atlantic Inc is a New York -based independent publishing house that was formed by the merger of Grove Press and Atlantic Monthly Press 13–16. ISBN 0-87113-702-X.  
  3. ^ a b A Chronology of the Conflict - 1976. CAIN. Retrieved on 2007-09-01. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 462 - Possible start of first Byzantine indiction cycle.
  4. ^ Bishop, Patrick & Mallie, Eamonn (1987). The Provisional IRA. Corgi Books, p. 350. ISBN 0-552-13337-X.  
  5. ^ a b c d e The Provisional IRA, p. 351.
  6. ^ The Provisional IRA, pp. 351-352.
  7. ^ a b c The Provisional IRA, p. 352.
  8. ^ Taylor, Peter (1997). Peter Taylor born Scarborough, North Yorkshire is a British Journalist and documentary -maker who had covered for many years the political Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin. Bloomsbury Publishing, pp. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc is an independent London -based publishing house known for literary Novels It was named Publisher of the Year in 1999 and 221–222. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2.  
  9. ^ The Provisional IRA, p. 353.
  10. ^ The Provisional IRA, p. 354.
  11. ^ a b c d Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin, pp. 229–234.
  12. ^ Coogan, Tim (2000). Timothy Patrick Coogan (born 1935 is an Irish Historian, broadcaster and newspaper columnist The IRA. Harper Collins, p. HarperCollins is a Publishing company owned by News Corporation. 490. ISBN 9780006531555.  
  13. ^ O'Rawe, Richard (2005). Blanketmen. New Island, pp. 103–104. ISBN 1-904301-67-3.  
  14. ^ English, Richard (2003). Richard English is a Historian from Northern Ireland. He was born in Belfast in 1963 Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA. Pan Books, pp. Pan Books is an Imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers 195–196. ISBN 0-330-49388-4.  
  15. ^ a b The Hunger Strike of 1981 - A Chronology of Main Events. CAIN. Retrieved on 2007-05-27. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed
  16. ^ Ten Men Dead, p. 55.
  17. ^ The Provisional IRA, p. 375.
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