‘Hope should never Die’ – Bobby Sands

Wednesday 20th August marks the anniversary of the death on hunger strike in 1981 of Mickey Devine. Mickey was the last of the ten men to die and several weeks later the hunger strike end on 3 October. It was also the day the by-election was held in Fermanagh South Tyrone caused by the death in May of Bobby Sands. Owen Carron successfully held the seat as the ‘Anti-H-Block/Proxy Political Prisoner’ candidate.

This Sunday the annual National Hunger Strike March and Rally will take place in Belfast. Republicans and others remember with pride and sorrow those who died on hunger strike in 1981, as well as Michael Gaughan 1974 and Frank Stagg 1976, and others of earlier generations. The men of the H-Blocks and the women of Armagh Women’s Prison hold a special place in republican hearts and minds. We also remember all of those who died during that summer of 1981.

An Clogán

Among the many excellent events at this year’s Féile an Phobail was the launch of a new journal called An Clogán (The Little Bell). It is an independent, politically unaligned magazine that takes its name, and I suspect its design as an A5 booklet, from The Bell. This was a left oriented magazine edited and published in the 1940’s and 50’s by Peadar O’Donnell, Roisin Walsh and Sean Ó Faoláin.

An Clogán, which is edited by Oisín Gilmore and Oisín Vince Coulter is an ambitious magazine containing 27 contributions from a wide range of writers, including Claire Mitchell, Robbie McVeigh, Phillip Pettit, Martina Anderson, Margaret Ward, and an interview with me.