Bobby Sands is elected from his death-bed
1981 · Event
Forty days into his hunger strike in the Maze, IRA prisoner Bobby Sands wins a Westminster by-election — an MP starving himself to death over the right to be treated as a political prisoner. He dies on day 66; his election transforms the republican movement's turn toward the ballot box.
On these timelines: The Troubles, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (combined), Master
More from The Troubles
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- Omagh bombing (1998)
- The IRA declares a ceasefire (1994)
- Battle of the Bogside sparks the crisis (1969)
- Mountbatten and Warrenpoint (1979)
- Operation Demetrius (internment) (1971)
- The Birmingham pub bombings (1974)
- The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
Around 1981
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