66 Days That Shook The World: The 1981 Hunger Strike
Written By: P. O’Neill
On Tuesday, the fifth of May 1981, elected Member of Parliament, IRA volunteer and revolutionary socialist Robert Gerard Sands died after 66 brutal days on hunger strike. Following this, 9 more of his comrades would die in the strike from both the ranks of the IRA and of the INLA. As we pass the 39th anniversary of this great sacrifice, it is only fair that we ask what the significance of this hunger strike is from a Marxist perspective. Why did it occur and what was the response internationally in terms of socialist solidarity, particularly here in Australia?
“This resort to armed struggle as a defensive action helped give rise to the Provisional IRA, of which Bobby was a member”
Bobby Sands’ upbringing was broadly typical of that experienced by the nationalist minority in the 6 occupied counties in the north of Ireland at the time. He and his family were forced from their homes. Bobby himself was forced from his employment by loyalist paramilitary gangs and although growing up in mixed communities in which he was brought up without prejudice, or in a historically militant republican family, he quickly became aware that nonviolent approaches had failed and that the only option for moving towards peace, equality and socialism was armed struggle. The disarming of the official IRA and their failure to protect local communities, such as during the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre where British forces slaughtered 14 civilians, drove home the need for violent resistance to British state violence.
This resort to armed struggle as a defensive action helped give rise to the Provisional IRA, of which Bobby was a member. The Provisional IRA was an organisation that, as outlined in its manifesto and handbook for new volunteers, was intent on creating a socialist state. Their position was that while religious sectarianism was certainly at play in the north of Ireland, British media overstated its role in the conflict while downplaying the important role of British imperialism in provoking strife. Hence the conflict was political in nature as opposed to religious sectarianism. If you were to end British imperialism you could subsequently put an end to sectarian divisions.
“While the hunger strike was initially about the rights of Republican prisoners of war, it quickly developed, especially on the international stage, into a symbol of the Socialist, Republican struggle in Ireland”
The other organisation to involve itself in the strike was the INLA which was another, albeit smaller, military force guided by Marxist-Leninist political ideals. It acted alongside the Irish Republican Socialist Party, an organisation led by 20th century Republican Socialist theorists and freedom fighters such as Seamus Costello and Thomas ‘Ta’ Power. The IRSP also traced its foundation to James Connolly’s ISRP, founded some 85 years before the 1981 Hunger Strike. While there were some ideological disagreements between the two military and political forces, at the time they were similar. Both were guided by socialist principles, both gained great inspiration from local and international socialist freedom fighters and guerrillas such as James Connolly and Che Guevara and both sought a unified socialist nation, as Bobby himself would put it, “leaving all the Irish people as a unit to control their own affairs and determine their own destinies as a sovereign people, free in mind and body, separate and distinct physically, culturally and economically” (1). The 1981 Hunger Strike was a joint effort between these two socialist factions for this cause.
“The strike also gained widespread support in Palestine most notably amongst the organisations that were part of the PLO such as the PFLP, as hunger striking had been a key weapon in the cause for Irish and Palestinian liberation”
While the hunger strike was initially about the rights of Republican prisoners of war such as a right to not have to wear prison uniforms and visitation rights, it quickly developed, especially on the international stage, into a symbol of the Socialist, Republican struggle in Ireland. All over the world, workers took action in support of the Irish struggle. In New York the Longshoremen’s Association (the docker’s union) refused to unload all British vessels, the streets of Paris were filled with protestors calling for immediate British withdrawal from Ireland, leading to the British embassy of the city going into lockdown. The new Iranian government renamed Winston Churchill street in honour of Bobby’s sacrifice and sent messages of solidarity and West German communists held a rooftop demonstration in Hamburg in support of both the IRA and INLA. The socialist countries also expressed solidarity, a republican delegation of former Long Kesh and Armagh prison camp inmates gave interviews regarding the treatment of prisoners to media in the German Democratic Republic. In the Soviet Union, the renowned newspaper Pravda published that it was “another tragic page in the grim chronicle of oppression, discrimination, terror, and violence” in Ireland, alongside a translation of Bobby’s original song “Back home in Derry”, about a Fenian prisoner transported to Australia, as well as producing posters commemorating all 10 hunger strikers. At the same time the World Federation of Trade Unions and the World Federation of Teachers Trade Unions (based in the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic and German Democratic Republic respectively) expressed open support for the prisoners. In Cuba, Fidel Castro announced “Irish patriots are writing one of the most heroic chapters in human history” and gave continued support and solidarity to the movement, even opening a monument to the Hunger Strikers that remains in Havana to this day. The strike also gained widespread support in Palestine most notably amongst the organisations that were part of the PLO such as the PFLP, as hunger striking had been a key weapon in the cause for Irish and Palestinian liberation for some time in both struggles at this point. Ultimately the strike and overall struggle of Republican prisoners was given public declarations of support by both international socialist organisations and also every Communist party of Europe, with the notable exceptions of those of Britain and Ireland.
“At the annual May Day parade over 100 marched behind a black-clad coffin, a symbol of the strike and of Bobby in particular only days away from the end of his”
But what was the response in Australia and how can we look back to that response as an example of how to show solidarity with the struggle against colonialism and for socialism abroad? Australian trade unions overwhelmingly supported the strike. The SA United Trades and Labor Council, South Coast Trades and Labor Council of NSW, Newcastle Trades Hall, Federal Waterside Workers Federation, Federal Builders Labourers Federation, Federal Plumbers and Gasfitters Union, QLD Meat Industry Employees Union, VIC Australian Railways Union, Amalgamated Metal Workers and Shipwrights Union and the Waterfront Unions in Port Kembla, Sydney and Brisbane all passed motions in support of the Hunger Strike, with some then donating to local H-Block committees. On May Day, 1981, a vigil with over 200 supporters of the Hunger Strike was held in the Sydney CBD. Days later at the annual May Day parade over 100 marched behind a black-clad coffin, a symbol of the strike and of Bobby in particular only days away from the end of his. Numbers at rallies would sharply increase after Bobby died on the strike, with over 2000 attending a requiem mass in Melbourne, and another 1,500 for similar events of further hunger strikers. Two hunger strikes even occurred on Australian soil in response to the strike in Ireland. One took place on the steps of Adelaide’s parliament and lasted 48 hours, while the other by Ned O’Connor in Sydney lasted a total of 37 days. This is quite an achievement, only ten days short of Martin Hurson’s fatal 46 day hunger strike. The then communist newspaper, The Tribune, covered Ned’s story in full.
“If we are ever to see trade unions take a stand for international socialism again, we must work to re-radicalise and militarise the movement”
What can be learned from looking back to the actions taken both internationally and in Australia and how can those lessons be applied to solidarity with international struggles in the future. Could the Australian public and trade union movement again rally behind a cause pushed forward by socialists and avowed Marxist-Leninists? Ultimately as Communists we believe that the rallying of the Australian public to Communism is inevitable, but we can still learn from these elements in our recent history. In order for the Australian Trade Union movement to truly be a key element in striving towards socialism it must be unshackled from the Labor Party. If we are ever to see trade unions take a stand for international socialism again, we must work to re-radicalise and militarise the movement. As Communist activity isn’t limited to simply joining the union covering your trade, workers must lead their unions back onto the path of militancy and bring back mass-industry boycotts. The Irish Republican movement had great respect for the Australian trade union movement for taking such a stand and enforcing boycotts and mounting pressure on the Thatcher government of Britain. Such tactics could be used to great effect by communist-led trade unions to combat the modern special relations Australia holds with the United States and by extension other imperialist nations such as the illegitimate state of Israel. We must also work outside of the union movement to continue supporting our international comrades.
While the iron will of the hunger strikers led to the British government granting the five demands in all but name, it was the international solidarity from Moscow to Melbourne and everywhere in between that brought the struggle to the forefront internationally and showed how the socialist movement could unite behind ten brave men. As INLA Hunger Striker Patsy O’Hara said, “Let the fight go on” (2).
Bibliography
1: https://www.bobbysandstrust.com/writings/prison-diary/
2: http://www.angelfire.com/space/derryirsp/ohara.htm