He was soon joined by Jackie McMullan, the next prisoner to wear a blanket instead of a uniform, followed by six more Irish republican prisoners from the Beechmount area of Belfast. By Christmas 1976, the number of participants had risen to over forty prisoners. Most incoming republican prisoners emulated Nugent and this started five years of prison protests in pursuit of political status, which culminated in the 1981 hunger strike and the death of seven IRA and three Irish National Liberation Army prisoners.