Provisional Irish Republican Army 1982, reflecting the sequence in which the old leadership of the republican movement were being sidelined. IRA prisoners convicted after March 1976 did not have Special Category Status applied in prison. In response, more than 500 prisoners refused to wear prison clothes. This activity culminated in the 1981 Irish hunger strike, when seven IRA and three Irish National Liberation Army members starved themselves to death in pursuit of political status. The hunger strike leader Bobby Sands and Anti H-Block activist Owen Carron were elected to the British Parliament, and two other protesting prisoners were elected to the Dáil. In addition,
Irish Prison Service Minister, as an advisory board to the Irish Prison Service. In 2002, the first Inspector of Prisons in the post-independence era, retired High Court Judge Dermot Kileen was also appointed by the Minister. According to the Irish Prison Service website, their official mission is "providing safe and secure custody, dignity of care and rehabilitation to prisoners for safer communities." In line with this goal, they offer a great many services to prisoners. Drug treatment services involve systematic detoxification and general psychological services to help with rehabilitation. Prisons within the system offers basic education classes, as well as specialized classes in