Frank Stagg, from Hollymount, Co Mayo, came rightly by his devotion to the cause of Ireland. His father was an active Republican, serving with distinction in both the War of Independence and the Civil War. Stagg himself was arrested in 1973, and under the British Conspiracy Laws, was convicted of conspiracy to commit arson.

During the course of his imprisonment, Stagg engaged in four separate hunger strikes, including 70 days in 1974 on the Parkhurst strike which claimed the life of his comrade, Michael Gaughan . Gaughan's death on this strike resulted in moves by authorities to begin negotiations which ended the stailc. Despite this facade of concern on the part of the British government, Stagg was punished for his part in the hunger strike by being moved from the prison hospital to a solitary punishment cell, where he remained under 23 hour lockdown. He was allowed no furniture, radio, newspapers or cigarettes, and prevented from sleeping by a bright light burning in his cell day and night. 

His fourth hunger strike took place in Wakefield Prison. On December 14, 1975, Stagg embarked on a hunger strike for repatriation. He was 62 days on the strike and died on the twelfth of February, 1976. His final wish was “to be buried next to my Republican colleagues and my comrade, Michael Gaughan.” 

Following Stagg's death on the stailc, his family went to Dublin to claim his body, but the British government was not yet finished with its abuse of this courageous Republican. While waiting for the flight carrying Stagg's remains to arrive, Stagg's family learned that British security forces had intervened and diverted the flight to Shannon airport. Having thus hijacked his body, they hurriedly helicoptered it to Ballina cemetery where they buried him outside of his family's intended plot, and covered the hasty burial over with concrete, placing a 24-hour guard to prevent his family and his comrades from gaining access to retrieve his body.

Nine months later, a party of Republicans tunneled into the concrete under cover of darkness and at last brought him home to rest, as he had wished, amongst his comrades, and beside his fellow hunger striker, Michael Gaughan.  — by W Shaw

Mayo honours the memory of Frank Stagg

"An ordinary person, who saw injustice and decided not to remain silent but to take action," is how Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly described IRA Volunteer Frank Stagg last weekend in Mayo on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Stagg's death on hunger strike.

At the and of 1975 Frank Stagg had embarked on his fourth and final hunger strike in his bid to be repatriated to Ireland. After 62 days refusing food, Frank died far away from his Mayo home in England's Wakefield Prison on 12 February 1976. The hijacking of the republican soldier's remains by members of the Gardaí at the request of the Fine Gael/Labour coalition of the day has been a source of anger for republicans ever since.

It was with a great sense of unbroken commitment to the very same objectives that Frank fought and died for that up to 800 Irish republicans, marched to Leigue Cemetery last Sunday.

The march and commemoration ceremony formed part of a weekend of events in which republicans from as far apart as North Antrim, Clonakilty, Kilkenny, Dublin and Crossmaglen joined comrades from Mayo in a weekend of events to commemorate the life of an ordinary man who was prepared to go to extraordinary lengths and even to give his life so that British injustice in his country would become a thing of the past.

Addressing a Sinn Féin function on the Saturday night, former POW and Hunger Striker Raymond McCartney spoke of the proud line of Mayo republicans of which Frank Stagg was a part. He spoke of the contribution made by Stagg's comrade Michael Gaughan who was murdered in Parkhurst Prison through the brutal practice force feeding while on hunger strike and of Seán McNeela who also died on hunger strike in the 1940s. McCartney who himself spent 53 days without food during the first Hunger Strike in 1980, told the crowd of 200 people that to this day Mayo plays its part in the struggle for Irish freedom. "The role played by Mayo today in fighting injustice is still very evident in the titanic campaign waged by five Mayo men against an Irish Government backed multinational," said McCartney.

The Derry man's first hand description of life on hunger strike brought it painfully home to his audience exactly how much Frank Stagg had suffered during his several hunger strikes. Members of the Stagg family were guests at the function. George Stagg, a brother of Frank's, talked of Frank's fervour for the republican cause and restated his family's support for that cause.

Mayo Sinn Féin general election candidate Councillor Gerry Murray read out a letter of solidarity from Party President Gerry Adams who had been set to attend the weekend's events. Murray continued, "The mindset that existed in southern politics at the time of Frank Stagg's death, a mindset that sustained the British presence in Ireland, still exists in Irish politics today. A responsibility is now placed in the hands of Sinn Féin members who are now faced with tackling those elements that are opposed to peace and equality in Ireland." Murray asked all in attendance to re-dedicate themselves to achieving republican goals by helping Sinn Féin candidates in the upcoming general election.

The main speaker at Sunday's well-attended commemoration in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina was Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly. Kelly, a former republican POW and spent a gruelling time on hunger strike at the same time as Frank Stagg in the 1970s. "I have always thought it was harder to be a republican in the South than in the North and that it was even more difficult to be a republican in England during the 1970s," said Kelly.

"Frank Stagg had to face the personal difficulties that all that brought him. Frank was an ordinary person like you here today who saw injustice and decided to take action. He could have ignored the injustice he saw in his country and lived a normal life. He could have been standing among you today but his desire for peace and justice in Ireland meant he committed himself fully to the republican cause. The efforts by the Fine Gael/Labour Government to disrupt Stagg's funeral showed that Frank's message was so powerful; he was feared even in death."

The North Belfast MLA detailed the inhumane conditions Irish republicans like Stagg found themselves enduring in English jails, the force feedings, the dispersal policy followed by prison wardens and time spent by many republicans in solitary confinement. "Yet with all the hardship of prison in Ireland and England, Irish men and women were still prepared to risk arrest in pursuit of justice in Ireland," said Kelly.

As the Hunger Strikers of the 1970s and 1981 passed into the history books Kelly said: "It is essential that our young people never forget those very difficult times. It is right that we remember through commemorations such as this and through the events that are set to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strikes."

Thirty years after his death, the life of Frank Stagg from the small Mayo village of Hollymount has shown republicans and our enemies that through selfless actions even in the face of the most hostile state aggression that the Irish republican cause will not be broken as long as there remains Irish republicans.