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
Kieran Doherty (hunger striker) the car and was found 1 mile away from the car.He was convicted and sentenced to 18 years for possession of firearms and explosives, with another four years for the hijack. Doherty started his strike on 22 May. He died at the age of 25 in the 1981 Irish hunger strike in the Maze prison (known to republicans as "Long Kesh"). He lasted 73 days on hunger strike, the longest of the 1981 hunger strikers, and only one day short of Terence MacSwiney. While on hunger strike he was elected as an Anti H-Block TD for the Cavan–Monaghan constituency at