May 5 in History
1981 – Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27
Robert Gerard Sands (born March 9, 1954) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike on this day in 1981, while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze (also known as Long Kesh) in Northern Ireland. Sands helped to plan the 1976 bombing of the Balmoral Furniture Company in Dunmurry, which was followed by a gun battle with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Sands was arrested while trying to escape and sentenced to 14 years for firearms possession.
Sands led the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status. During Sands’ strike, he was elected to the British Parliament as an Anti H-Block candidate.His death and those of nine other hunger strikers was followed by a new surge of IRA recruitment and activity. International media coverage brought attention to the hunger strikers, and the republican movement in general, attracting both praise and criticism.
-Wikipedia
Picture Caption- A memorial mural to Sands along Falls Road, Belfast -Wikipedia