Hopes raised of end to Maze hunger strike as IRA inmates issue demands

“Hopes of a breakthrough in the Maze IRA hunger strike were still high last night after a day of developments in Ulster,” according to The Sunday Post’s front page on July 5, 1981.

“The Irish Commission for Justice and Peace spent four hours of talks with the hunger strikers. The 420 protesting Republicans in the prison issued a Conciliatory Statement on their five demands, clearly aimed at bringing the government into direct negotiations – something the Northern Ireland Office has refused to do. In Eire, the Irish Prime Minister cancelled a visit to Cork and was remaining in Dublin.

“The Irish Commission for Justice and Peace left the prison without comment. But it is understood while no new meeting with the government has yet been arranged, the Catholic priests and lay people will probably ask for more talks when the prisoners’ terms for a settlement are expected to be amplified.”

The protests, which began as a demonstration against the government’s withdrawal of Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners, lasted for five years and ultimately ended with 10 prisoners starving themselves to death. The hunger strikes are believed to have radicalised Irish nationalist politics and saw Sinn Fein rise in popularity.