Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike of endurance has been associated with the belief that sufferers, rather than those at whose hand they suffer, will ultimately triumph in seen in the songs about the ten hunger strikers. In "Bobby Sands, MP", Sands is portrayed as an artist and poet. The theme of sacrifice also plays a role, such as the hunger striker asking his family to let him go in "The Time has Come", written by Christy Moore and Donal Lunny about the final meeting between Patsy O'Hara and his mother. Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike Between 1 March 1976 and 3 October
1981 Irish hunger strike 1981 Irish hunger strike 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 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