9:Rise Of Sinn Fein And The Hunger Strikes

Question 1

Reasons for the hunger strikes (3)

Answer 1

• Secretary of State Marlyn Rees introduced policies of Ulsterisation and Criminalisation. This involved reducing strength of NI army while increasing size of RUC and UDR. This saw the end to Special Category Status for prisoners
  • Removal of it meant those convicted after March 1976, would be treated the same as other criminals.
  • IRA Prisoners, who saw themselves as soldiers fighting for Ireland’s freedom- hated criminalisation.

Question 2

List republican prisoner strategies to reintroduce the Special Category Status (3)

Answer 2

• They used the blanket protest where they refused prison clothes and only wore blankets
• in 1978 this was following by the dirty protest
• By late 1980 over 340 of the 837 Republican prisoners were involved however the Secretary of State refused to compromise

Question 3

What did the IRA do when Atkins refused to compromised with the prisoners?

Answer 3

• in late 1980 the IRA began a group of hunger strikes as a last method of achieving its demands
• this was called off in December

Question 4

Describe the 1981 Hunger Strike

Answer 4

Date: 1st March 1981
Who organised it? ; Bobby Sands, commanding IRA officer
How did it differ?: this time prisoners would join the protest at intervals. This would make the strike last longer and so maximise its impact. It gained huge public sympathy and publicity of many in the nationalist community, however it didn’t change government policy
What new development took place on the 40th day of Sands’ strike?: On the fourteenth day of his strike, Sands standing as an anti-H-block candidate was elected to Westminster

Question 5

What happened on 5th May?

Answer 5

Sands died

Question 6

What happened on 3rd October?

Answer 6

Nine other prisoners died

Question 7

What impact did the strikes have on life in N Ireland?

Answer 7

• Increased violence between PIRA and UDA, - Relations between communities worsened and Westminster and the PIRA were talking behind closed doors
• Strike continued until 3rd October 1981 by which time nine other prisoners died
• In the same period 61 people died as a result of the violence that erupted in reaction to the deaths

Question 8

Name the prisoner concessions made within a week of the strike’s end by James Prior : (4)

Answer 8

• Prisoners could always wear their own clothes
• 50% reduction in length of sentence lost by those involved in protests would be restored
• more prison visits would be permitted
• more association among prisoners would be allowed

Question 9

List the problems caused by the Hunger Strikes for Britain

Answer 9

• increased nationalist alienation from the state
• rising support for republicans
• unionists, while glad the government didn’t give into demands of the hunger strikes who they saw as terrorists, were voicing their anxieties at the growth for the support for the IRA
• the Irish government was pushing for the introduction of a new political initiative to end the troubles

Question 10

How did Sinn Fein emerge?

Answer 10

Sands’ election victory showed republicans that they could gain political success. In 1981 Sinn Fein officially adapted both militant and constitutional tactics known as “the ballot box and the Armalite” using democracy and weaponry to take power in Ireland

Question 11

Effect of Sinn Féin’s electoral success on the SDLP:

Answer 11

Sinn Finn might replace the SDLP as the main nationalist party in the province