Bobby Sands

Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands…

Brian O'Neill on May 5, 2021, 5:36 pm | Readers 4938

Many moons ago I was chatting with a fella in a bar about the 27 club. Music fans will know 27 is the age many famous rock stars such as Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison left this mortal coil. The fella was of the Republican persuasion and he added Bobby Sands to the list. Bobby Sands was actually quite a talented songwriter and poet. His most well-known songs include “Back Home in Derry” (the melody borrowed …

Why Sinn Féin should retire Tiocfaidh ár lá…

Hugo on May 6, 2020, 6:15 pm | Readers 13146

This week marks the 39th anniversary of Bobby Sands death, the first and most infamous of the ten IRA men who perished in the 1981 hunger strike. These fatal protests were a dramatic inflexion point in the Troubles with immense consequences – both accelerating the brutal violence and, through the election of Sands as a British MP, sowing the seeds for Sinn Féin’s successful entry into politics. The events sharply divide opinions, now as then, but whatever your view, most …

Film review – Bobby Sands: 66 Days

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on July 19, 2016, 1:12 am | Readers 4078

BOBBY SANDS: 66 DAYS is a documentary film that weaves together the story of 1970s and 1980s republicanism with day by day updates on Sands’ condition and diary entries throughout his hunger strike. It’s neither an apologetic nor a rose-tinted documentary. The film sets events firmly in context but the critique of the hunger strike, the decisions of the UK government and the protest’s long term effect is fairly lenient.