The Struggle of our Political Prisoners

Following the introduction of internment in 1971 "Operation Demetrius" was implemented by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army with raids for 452 suspects on August 9, 1971. The police and army arrested 342 republicans, but key Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) members had been tipped off and 104 of those arrested were released when it emerged they had no paramilitary connections. Those behind Operation Demetrius were accused of bungling, by arresting many of the wrong people and using out of date information. Later, some loyalists were also arrested. By 1972 there were 924 internees and by the end of internment on 5 December 1975 1,981 people had been detained; 1,874 of whom were Republicans and 107 Loyalists.

Initially the internees were housed, with different paramilitary groups separated from each other, in Nissen huts at a disused RAF airfield that became the Long Kesh Detention Centre. The internees and their supporters agitated for improvements in their conditions and status; they saw themselves as political prisoners rather than common criminals. In July 1972 William Whitelaw introduced Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence. There were 1,100 Special Category prisoners at that time.

"Special Category" status for convicted paramilitary-linked criminals gave them the same privileges previously available only to internees. These privileges included free association between prisoners, extra visits, food parcels and the right to wear their own clothes rather than prison uniforms (Crawford 1979).

However, Special Category Status was short-lived. As part of the government's policy of "criminalisation", and coinciding with the end of internment, the new Secretary of State, Merlyn Rees, ended Special Category Status from March 1, 1976.

Prisoners convicted due to suspected paramilitary offenses after March 1, 1976 were housed in the eight new "H-Blocks" that had been constructed at Long Kesh, now officially HM Prison Maze. Prisoners without Special Category status began protesting against for the return of political status immediately after they were transferred to the H-Blocks. Their first act of defiance was to refuse to wear the prison uniforms, stating that convicted criminals wear uniforms, not political prisoners. Not allowed their own clothes, they wrapped themselves in bedsheets. Prisoners participating in the protest were "on the blanket". By 1978 more than 300 men had joined the protest. The British Government refused to yield. Prison guards soon refused to let the blanket protesters use the toilets without proper uniforms. The prisoners refused, and instead began to defecate within their own cells, smearing excrement on the walls. This began the "Dirty Blanket Protest". But again the new 1979 government of Margaret Thatcher stood firm.

1981 Irish hunger strike

Republicans outside the prison took the battle to the media and both sides fought for public support. Inside the prison the prisoners took another step and organised a hunger strike.

These protests aimed to re-establish their privileges by securing what were known as the "Five Demands":

The right not to wear a prison uniform;

The right not to do prison work;

The right of free association with other prisoners;

The right to organise their own educational and recreational facilities;

The right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week.

On October 27, 1980, seven Republican prisoners refused food and demanded political status. In December they called off the hunger strike when the government appeared to concede their demands. However, the government immediately reverted to their previous stance, confident the prisoners would not start another strike. Bobby Sands, the leader of the Provisional IRA prisoners, and members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) began a second action on March 1, 1981. Outside the prison in a major publicity coup, Sands was nominated for Parliament and won the Fermanagh & South Tyrone by-election, 1981 (April). But the British government was still resisting and on May 5, after 66 days on hunger strike, Sands died. More than 100,000 people attended Bobby Sands's funeral in Belfast. Another nine hunger strikers died by the end of August before the hunger strike was called off in October. The British government effectively conceded to the prisoners' demands over the next few months, granting them Political Status in everything but name.

Breakouts and attempted breakouts

On September 25, 1983, the Maze suffered the largest break-out of prisoners from a British prison. 38 prisoners hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out. One prison officer, James Ferris, died of a heart attack while being held captive at knifepoint, and another five were injured. Nineteen of the prisoners were soon recaptured, but the remainder escaped. One of the escapees was later involved in the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing.

Eight Republican prisoners tunneled out with tools brought into the high security Prison by William Muldowney, Leader of the Irish Catholic INLA Commission in the United States, who was dressed as a visiting Catholic Priest giving Mass in the prison. William Muldowney is the cousin of Bobby Sands[citation needed.

In March 1997, an IRA escape attempt was foiled when a 40ft underground tunnel was found. The tunnel, which was fitted with electric lighting, led from H-block 7 and was only 80ft short of the perimeter wall.

In December 1997, IRA prisoner Liam Averill escaped from the prison dressed as a woman during a Christmas party for prisoners' children.