The Terrorist Member of Parliament or Man of the People

The voting majority of Fermanagh and South Tyrone sent a message to the world, and particularly the British government, that they did not consider Bobby Sands a criminal but a political prisoner. And more. They elected him to represent them. How would the Brits deal with an MP on hunger strike in one of their jails who they condemned as both a terrorist and criminal. The world media were pressing British officials to find out. They were also granting interviews to Sinn Fein and H-Block/Armagh activists. Public opinion, slow to coalesce, was solidifying around the issue. Rallies world wide were drawing attention to the hunger strike.

Brits Ban Prisoners' Running For Office

How did the Brits react? They simply passed a law barring prisoners from ever standing in future elections. Lawrence McKeown, himself on the short list for joining the stailc ocrais [hunger strike] as men died, said it best: "That taught me a lot about the Brits and politics and about power and the misuse of it. It taught me a lot about the facade of democracy which cloaks a very unjust and deep-seated system of privilege in the hands of a few. My hopes of a few days previous were dampened."

But, by and large, the Blanketmen were riding high, even if they had no faith in the Brits' will to negotiate. Support was growing and the men were kept appraised through visits, comms, and the few radios the men still had. On Saturday the 18th of April, Bobby received the Last Rights of the Catholic Church. His eyes were constantly in pain; he could barely see. His skin ached. He had to be rubbed down with cream every few hours and had to sleep on a waterbed to get any relief from the agony of his decomposing skin.

Pressure To Come Off

While pressure was being applied on the Brits, even more pressure was being applied on Bobby to come off the strike by Churchmen and politicians. Many were truly concerned, but many had the veneer of humanitarianism about them which concealed a deeper self-interest and righteous need to be perceived as a player, even better, a humanitarian player: "How wonderful I would be perceived if I stopped the hunger strike and saved lives; me who instilled some sense into these poor devils." They pictured themselves delivering speeches at press conferences.

Three members of the Dublin Dail [and also the European Parliament] came to see Bobby, on his request, soon after his election: Sile DeValera, Neil Blaney, and John O'Connor. DeValera and Blaney were clearly of nationalist even republican sympathies. O'Connor happened to be the son of a British soldier and was a medical doctor to boot. The three met Bobby in the hospital. He couldn't even lift his hand to shake theirs. They introduced themselves and held his limp hand in turn. O'Connell compulsively made a quick diagnosis in his mind as he observed Bobby's actions and appearance.

He was not only emaciated, but his reflexes and vital signs were going fast. His blinking reflex was almost gone, pulse weak, and his heart beat was feeble. He was almost blind. Less than a week to live.

How could they help they asked. Bobby, still composed and lucid, explained about the demands and the reasoning behind the strike. O'Connell then asked him point blank to come off. O'Connell told him they would fight for him and demand Thatcher make the required changes, but it made no sense to die, even for a just cause. Bobby said, "I knew you would say that." They talked for forty minutes and the three left with no doubts that Bobby would never give in unless their demands were met, not after the Brits lied and twisted and went back on their words just months ago. All three were either in tears or close to it. On the way out of the hospital cell/room they encountered a full plate of food on a table next to Bobby's bed, strategically placed by the ever sadistic, tormenting screws. Just following orders.

Dundalk & Far Off Saudi Arabia

The three were prevented by the RUC from giving a planned press conference in Belfast but instead were whisked across the border where they held an ad hoc press conference in Dundalk. They were profoundly moved by their meeting with Sands they said and expressed their concern for his life. They read a hastily prepared a telegram sent to Margaret Thatcher. She was still lording it up in Saudi Arabia where she was asked about the message from the three Irish/European politicians at a general press conference. She turned patronizingly deadly in her oh so calm and metered response, a human lizard: "It is not my habit or custom to meet MPs from a foreign country about a citizen of the UK, resident of the UK."

A Nervous Haughey Calls In Strasbourg

Other moves were being made in Dublin and elsewhere. The Papal Nuncio to Ireland dispatched telegrams to the Pope detailing the situation. Charlie Haughey, planning his re-election campaign for May, was getting nervous with the hunger strike on and men likely to die in the middle of it. He worked behind the scenes to bring in the European Court of Human Rights. The men thought this a despicable move by Haughey, the equivalent of punting on 2nd down and letting the other guys deal with the problem -- anybody but him, the leader of Fianna Fail, the "Republican Party".

He in fact was despicable, putting pressure on Bobby's mother and sister to lodge a complaint with the European court, which he had in essence written, on Bobby's behalf.

Haughey's intervention lead to the complaint being lodged with the Euro Commission for Human Rights in Strasbourg. It was a three way complaint against the Brits, in fairness, all very sound: 1] for violating Bobby's right to life, 2] to protection from inhuman treatment, and 3] for denying Bobby access to the media during his election campaign and to have normal contact with his constituents since his election as MP.

Pat Finucane and Bobby

Pat Finucane was the Blanketmen's and Hunger Striker's lawyer and worked closely with Bobby in preparation for the arrival of the Commission's delegation. He and Bobby became fast friends during those critical days; Pat was really the only sympathetic person allowed regular access to him. Bobby and Pat set down one precondition: that he be allowed, considering his physical and weakening ability to focus for extended periods, several advisors to be present during the interviewing process. Bik McFarlane, Gerry Adams, and Danny Morrison were his choices. If the Brits were serious, this would be no problem.

Bik's Visit: "I'm dying, cara"

On 25 April 1981, Bik was called from his cell and taken to an office where he met four European Commission members. They told him in nonspecific, convoluted diplomatic terms, that the Brits refused to allow Adams and Morrison into the prison. Bik asked to see Bobby in the hospital for his response, although he knew there would be no cave in.

Bobby was 56 days into his ordeal and was now almost a living skeleton. It is always dangerous to pretend to know how another man might have felt. But it is fair to speculate that Bobby must have been as devastated by how he looked as how he felt. A young and vibrant man, brilliant of mind and spirit, a talented poet, a brave soldier -- now wasting away and losing his mental focus; his muscles dissolving under his skin; nearly totally blind. Although he missed his comrades, perhaps he often wished just to be left alone to die in peace.

His speech slurred and hushed, Bobby told Bik to stand fast to the Adams and Morrison condition and that was that.

Bik recalls: "He had difficulty in seeing who it was had entered the room. I moved round to the side of his bed and sat close by him. There was so much pain on his face that I could almost feel the agony. His eyes, dark and sunken, seemed so distant. He looked so fragile and delicate in this silent world of his that I found myself speaking in whispered tones for fear of disturbing some inner peace. It seemed irreverent to intrude upon this silence."

Bik only had ten minutes with Bobby before going back to tell the Commissioners. He told Bobby that he wouldn't let him down, i.e., if it came to it, he would let him die rather than collapse under the pressure without victory. As McFarlane turned to leave, Bobby murmured from somewhere deep inside, "I'm dying, cara, I'm dying."

The Delegation Slinks Away Passed Loyalist Hangman's Nooses

The commissioners gave up after eight hours in the Kesh, slipped out of the prison through a secret exit out of sight of 200 loyalist protesters lead by Ian Paisley carrying hangman's nooses, and flew hastily back to Strasbourg where they made a simple three paragraph statement, concluding: "After further consultations the delegation concluded that in the circumstances it was not possible to see and confer with Mr. Sands and accordingly no meeting took place." The commission also reported that "Mr. Sands did not wish to associate himself with his sister's complaint..." Thank you Mr. Haughey.

Bobby Near Death as Concannon Taunts and the Pope's Envoy Arrives

That night Bobby's condition worsened dramatically. His family was called to the prison hospital. He almost died then and there, but somehow pulled through.

Bobby got other visitors. Don Concannon, a British Labour party leader, came all the way to Long Kesh to tell Bobby that he and his party totally supported Thatcher's no concessions position re. the hunger strike. An act so essentially barbaric and cynical that it defies all but psychiatric analysis.

On Tuesday the 28th of April, the Pope's secretary, Fr. Magee, an Irishman from Newry, was on his way to settle the deadly dispute between the Brits and the Irish Republican prisoners before Bobby Sands drifted into lonely death, as millions of supporters worldwide held their breaths and congenital enemies scorned over their daily tabloids.