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
Joe McDonnell (hunger striker) wing O'Rawe and McFarlane were on, Anthony McIntyre, has backed up O'Rawe's version of events in relation to the 1981 hunger strike. McDonnell is commemorated on the Irish Martyrs Memorial at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney, Australia. Joe McDonnell (hunger striker) Joseph (Joe) McDonnell (14 September 1951 – 8 July 1981) was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who died in the 1981 Irish hunger strike. McDonnell was born on Slate Street in the lower Falls Road of Belfast as one of 10 children. He attended a nearby Roman Catholic school. He married Goretti in 1970, and moved