Hunger strike time, instead of many prisoners striking at the same time, the hunger strikers started fasting one after the other in order to maximise publicity over the fate of each one. Bobby Sands was the first of ten republican paramilitary prisoners to die during a hunger strike in 1981. There was widespread sympathy for the hunger strikers from Irish republicans and the broader nationalist community on both sides of the Irish border. Bobby Sands was elected as an MP to the UK's Houses of Parliament and two other hunger strikers, Paddy Agnew and Kieran Doherty, were elected to Dáil Éireann in
Michael Devine (hunger striker) Michael Devine (hunger striker) Michael James "Mickey" Devine (26 May 1954–20 August 1981) was an Irish founding member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). He died in prison during the 1981 Irish hunger strike. Devine, also known as ""Red Mickey"" because of his red hair, was born into a family from the Springtown Camp, Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In 1960, when Devine was six years of age, the Devine family including his grandmother, sister Margaret and parents Patrick and Elizabeth, moved to the then newly built Creggan estate to the north of Derry city centre. Devine was educated