HM Prison Maze However, the government immediately reverted to their previous stance, in the belief that the prisoners would not start another strike. Bobby Sands, the leader of the Provisional IRA prisoners, began a second action on 1 March 1981. Outside the prison, in a major publicity coup, Sands was nominated for Parliament and won the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election. But the British government still resisted and on 5 May, after 66 days on hunger strike, Sands died. More than 100,000 people attended Sands' funeral in Belfast. Another nine hunger strikers (members of both the IRA and the INLA) died by the
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