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
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