Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike of endurance has been associated with the belief that sufferers, rather than those at whose hand they suffer, will ultimately triumph in seen in the songs about the ten hunger strikers. In "Bobby Sands, MP", Sands is portrayed as an artist and poet. The theme of sacrifice also plays a role, such as the hunger striker asking his family to let him go in "The Time has Come", written by Christy Moore and Donal Lunny about the final meeting between Patsy O'Hara and his mother. Artistic reactions to the 1981 Irish hunger strike Between 1 March 1976 and 3 October
Hunger strike a 62-day hunger strike in 1976 which he began as a campaign to be repatriated to Ireland. In 1980, seven Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners in the Maze Prison launched a hunger strike as a protest against the revocation by the UK government of a prisoner-of-war-like Special Category Status for paramilitary prisoners in Northern Ireland. The strike, led by Brendan Hughes, was called off before any deaths, when the Government seemed to offer to concede their demands; however, the Government then reneged on the details of the agreement. The prisoners then called another hunger strike the following year. This