1981 Irish hunger strike January 1981, it became clear that the prisoners' demands had not been conceded. Prison authorities began to supply the prisoners with officially issued civilian clothing, whereas the prisoners demanded the right to wear their own clothing. On 4 February, the prisoners issued a statement saying that the British government had failed to resolve the crisis and declared their intention of "hunger striking once more". The second hunger strike began on 1 March, when Bobby Sands, the IRA's former officer commanding (OC) in the prison, refused food. Unlike the first strike, the prisoners joined one at a time and at staggered
Kevin Lynch (hunger striker) days later. He is commemorated on the Irish Martyrs Memorial at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney, Australia. Kevin Lynch (hunger striker) Kevin Lynch (25 May 1956 – 1 August 1981) was an Irish republican hunger striker and member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) from Park near Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The Dungiven hurling team was renamed Kevin Lynch's Hurling Club in his honour after his death. Lynch was the youngest in a family of eight children born to Paddy and Bridie Lynch in Park, north County Londonderry. Lynch's older brother, Frank, was an amateur boxer and he also