Lessons from the H-Block struggle
``Was the hunger strike worth it?'' That is the opening sentence in
the introduction to Gaol History, a document used to familiarise
all POWs with the history of the H Blocks. It chronicles the
struggle and sacrifices that were necessary to achieve the
conditions we now enjoy and which allow us a quality of life
suited to long-term political prisoners.
Taken out of context it is a contentious and provocative
question. It suggests that someone dares question the worth of
the sacrifice of those who died on hunger strike. The question
could be asked of any aspect of our struggle and the answer as
outlined in our Gaol History would be the same: ``One must
understand not only what the hunger strike was about but why
hundreds of republican POWs were willing to endure five years of
absolute deprivation. At base our protest was about the
fundamental issue of the illegitimacy of British rule in
Ireland''.
The epitome of our active struggle is expressed in the hunger
strike and the deaths of our comrades. The trauma of their deaths
marked us all but we were also marked with a determination to
struggle on in different forms to achieve what they died for.
There was no sense of defeatism after October 3 1981. In terms of
the internal prison struggle the deaths were proof of our
determination to win what was rightfully ours but the fact
remained that apart from the right to wear our own clothes we had
not won our demands. Having used what appeared to be our ultimate
weapon we still faced the question of how to achieve conditions
that reflected our status as political prisoners.
In the years which followed we faced many challenges.
It is mistakenly believed that in the years following the hunger
strike that we slipped into a quiet period where our demands were
all eventually conceded without a struggle. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
For a while after 1981 we existed in a vacuum. The physical and
emotional scars of the years of abuse, deprivation and deaths had
indeed left their mark. There were some who felt that we had
achieved all we ever would. Some refused to consider anything
other than remaining on indefinite protest, our numbers
dwindling, a living testament to the refusal of republicans to be
treated as criminals. There were those who realised that we
needed to break out of our isolation, that our struggle inside
was not over, in some ways it was only beginning. All of these
elements were to form the basis of forceful debates in the H
Blocks where the former blanket prisoners were held.
These debates were intense. Men agonised over what to do. Would
moving into the system be tantamount to admitting that our years
of protest had been in vain? What of our dead comrades and their
families? Were we abandoning them or had we a responsibility to
ensure that what they had suffered for was achieved by whatever
means possible?
A nervousness permeated the discussions. Was refusing to do
prison work a principle or was it a tactic? Who decided if it was
one or the other? We were comrades who had experienced and
endured almost unexplainable physical and emotions strengths and
weaknesses, ``and in our nakedness we discovered enormous depths
of resistance and forged unbreakable bonds of comradeship''. Each
of us struggled with the arguments, but never suggested that a
comrade with a contrary view may be denying everything we endured
together. Change requires courage and we had not survived by
being weak. We trusted each other. Once we began to accept the
need for change we could begin to rationalise the arguments.
Had pure emotion been allowed to govern these debates then it is
probable that effective republican resistance in the H Blocks
would have petered out in a relatively short time. We would have
fractured our unity and extinguished the spirit of resistance
which our enemies had failed to do over the years.
The situation demanded leadership. It forced us to expand our
strategy and tactics. We needed to focus on where we wanted to go
and on how we were going to get there. The debates had to be
brought to a conclusion. Decisions had to be taken. The diversity
of views and feelings made none of this easy.
Five solid years of unparalleled prison struggle, culminating in
deaths stretching agonisingly over a period of eight months had
failed to win for us, in prison terms, anything other than our
own clothes. We were expected to live in conditions created for
criminals. We were censored, politically and culturally and
subjected to arbitrary punishment. We were denied political
recognition and the right to organise ourselves. We were expected
to reject everything we believed in. But we had proved our
determination to resist this from behind locked doors in tiny
nine foot by seven foot concrete cells during the blanket and
hunger strikes. Those cells had become our centres of learning.
It was now time to apply that learning and meet the system head
on.
We were set to move into uncharted territory and to shape an
environment where we could begin to set about achieving our
objectives. The crucial and pivotal element in this move had to
be cohesion and being able to accommodate the diversity of views
and opinions that existed was in itself a major undertaking. The
willingness of the POWs to follow the leadership which was given
ensured that our enemy was met with a unified, determined and
strengthened body of resistance.
The escape of September 1983 was our response to what we had
endured in the previous years. It was our response to the notion
that republican resistance had been smashed into submission. The
very system which had sought to subjugate us had been pulled
inside out. The impact of this operation on our wider struggle
was highly potent. The response within the H Blocks from the
system was swift and brutal and heralded another set of
circumstances which would again require a reappraisal of our
strategy and tactics.
Over the course of the ensuing years new situations continually
required new approaches. Today 22 years after the H Blocks were
opened as the breaker's yard for republicans and 17 years after
the hunger strike republican POWs are fully recognised as
political prisoners. We have negotiated, argued, debated, and
fought for every improvement and for every facilitity we now
have. We have engaged with British ministers and with political
representatives from Ireland, Britain, Europe and America. We can
demonstrate that we have achieved more than we set out to achieve
when the first blanket prisoners were beaten into a H Block cell
in 1976. We do not and cannot allow any room for complacency
always guarding against any attempts to destroy what we have won.
Throughout, what has never been in question or up for debate were
our objectives and our duty as republican prisoners. Our
commitment was and is to the ending of British rule in Ireland
and to the ending of partition. Our primary objective is for the
establishment of a 32 county democratic, socialist republic.
We did not travel this road alone or without periods of concern
and uncertainty. Our families, comrades, and friends have given
us the support we needed in time of crisis.
The events of recent years and those of recent weeks have their
similarities between where the POWs found themselves in1981 and
where we as republicans find ourselves in1998. Our struggle is
far from over. We have advanced our struggle. We have taken wider
views of our strategy and tactics.We all know where we want to
go. We need to decide on how we get there but most importantly we
must go there together.
On Saturday October 3 1981 the POWs issued a lengthy statement
summarising the background to the hunger strikes of 1980 and
1981. We outlined in detail the reasons for ending the hunger
strike. We concluded by stating, ``lastly, we reaffirm our
commitment to the achievement of the five demands by whatever
means we believe necessary and expedient. We rule nothing out.
Under no circumstances are we going to devalue the memory of our
dead comrades by submitting ourselves to a dehumanising and
degrading regime''.
Was the hunger strike worth it? Yes. Is this struggle worth it?
Yes. Is this struggle over? NO!! Beirigi Bua.
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