Back إضراب طعام أيرلندا (1981) Arabic 1981-ci il irland aclıq aksiyası Azerbaijani Ірляндзкая галадоўка 1981 году BE-X-OLD Vaga de fam del 1981 a Irlanda del Nord Catalan Streic Newyn Wyddelig 1981 Welsh Irischer Hungerstreik von 1981 German Huelga de hambre de 1981 en Irlanda del Norte Spanish 1981eko Irlandako gose greba Basque اعتصاب غذای ایرلندیها در ۱۹۸۱ Persian Grève de la faim irlandaise de 1981 French
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976 when the British government withdrew Special Category Status (prisoner of war rather than criminal status) for convicted paramilitary prisoners.
In 1978, the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.
The second hunger strike took place in 1981 and was a showdown between the prisoners and the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. One hunger striker, Bobby Sands, was elected as a member of parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. The strike was called off after ten prisoners had starved themselves to death, including Sands, whose funeral was attended by 100,000 people. The strike radicalised Irish nationalist politics and was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party.