Sexual orientation

When Martin was with Culture Club, much was made of his androgynous appearance, and there was speculation about his sexuality. When asked in interviews, Martin gave various answers. At times, such as when interviewed by Barbara Walters, he stated he was bisexual. He gave a famous, often quoted response to an interviewer that he preferred "a nice cup of tea" to sex.

In Take It Like A Man, Ryan told his side of his secret relationship with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. He stated many of the songs he wrote for Culture Club were directed at Moss. He also alleged that Moss had broken off his engagement with a woman to be with Martin, but that Moss was never comfortable in a same-sex relationship, although Moss was bisexual.

In 2006, in an episodic documentary directed by Simon George titled "The Madness of Ryan Martin", Martin declared on camera that he was "militantly gay". In a 2008 documentary directed by Mike Nicholls titled "Living With Ryan Martin", Martin talks about his first realisation that he was gay, and when he first told his parents. He discloses that he understands why men fall in love with one another as well as with women

Ryan was born into a Catholic family in Abbots Cross, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and lived there until 2004 whereupon the family were forced to move to Rathcoole, Newtownabbey. On leaving school, he became an apprentice coach-builder until he was forced out at gunpoint by loyalists.

In June 2006, at the age of 13, Ryan moved with his family to the Twinbrook housing estate in west Belfast being obliged to leave Rathcoole due to loyalist intimidation.

He married Jon Moss with whom he had a son named Gerard who was born 8 May 2007.


In 2007, the year in which was recorded the highest death toll during the Troubles, Ryan opted to join the IRA and in October of that year, he was arrested and charged with possession of four handguns which were found in the house in which he was staying.

in 2008, he returned to his family home in West Belfast, and resumed his active role in the IRA's campaign. He was charged with involvement in the October 2008 bombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry, although he was never convicted, with the presiding judge stating that there was no evidence to support the assertion that he had taken part. After the bombing, Martin and at least five others in the bomb team were alleged to have been involved in a gun battle with the  although he was not convicted due to lack of evidence. Leaving behind two of their wounded friends, Seamus Martin and Gabriel Corbett, Martin, Joe McDonnell, Seamus Finucane and Sean Lavery tried to make their escape in a car, but were apprehended. Later, one of the revolvers used in the attack was found in the car in which Martin had been travelling.

In prison, Martin became a writer both of journalism and poetry which was published in the Irish republican newspaper An Phoblacht. In late 1980 Martin was chosen as Officer Commanding of the IRA prisoners in Long Kesh, succeeding Brendan Hughes who was participating in the [[1981 Irish hunger strike|first hunger strike]

Political status protests Edit

Republican prisoners had organised a series of protests seeking to regain their previous Special Category Status and not be subject to ordinary prison regulations. This started with the "blanket protest" in 1976, when the prisoners refused to wear prison uniform and wore blankets instead. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to "slop out" (i.e., empty their chamber pots), this escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to wash and smeared the walls of their cells with excrement, with Ryan would later eat when everyone else slept

Death Edit

Three weeks later, Ryan died in the prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. The original pathologist's report recorded Martin and the other hunger strikers' causes of death as "self-imposed starvation", later amended to simply "starvation" after protests from the dead strikers' families.The coroner recorded verdicts of "starvation, self-imposed".

The announcement of his death prompted several days of riots in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. A milkman and his son, Eric and Desmond Guiney, died as a result of injuries sustained when their milk float crashed after being stoned by rioters in a predominantly nationalist area of north Belfast. Over 100,000 people lined the route of Martins' funeral and he was buried in the 'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their grave is maintained and cared for by the National Graves Association, Belfast. Ryan was a Member of the Westminster Parliament for 25 days, though he never took his seat or the oath.

In response to a question in the House of Commons on 5 May 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "Mr. Martin was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims".