Did the IRA snub a British offer to save the 1981 Hunger Strikers?...

The Times ^ | 5th April 2009 | The Times

[the scotsman]

'Did five, or even six, of the republican prisoners who were on hunger strike in the Maze prison in 1981 die to advance the political strategy of Sinn Fein?

Did Gerry Adams and other members of the IRA kitchen cabinet snub a conciliatory offer from Margaret Thatcher, then the British prime minister, which met the substance of the prisoners’ demands, just to ensure that Sinn Fein would win a crucial by-election to Westminster?

These are the explosive questions raised for Sinn Fein by papers released to The Sunday Times under the Freedom of Information Act.'

[Tijeras_Slim]

Would not be surprised.

Martyrs have always been useful to those in charge.

[manc]

IRA are just a bunch of thugs and who use people to further their own pockets so there fore I would not be surprised at all if this happened

[Tax-chick]

Ireland ping!

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Probably.

Communists have never been hesitant about sacrificing people to advance the revolution.

[Tax-chick]

I agree, it wouldn’t be at all surprising.

[Billthedrill]

Would Adams do a thing like that?

Yes.

[Incorrigible]

And a film is being released this year that will glorify these low-lifes and demonize the very people trying to protect the peace loving populace from terrorist thugs.

Hunger:
http://www.azmovies.net/hunger.html

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Maybe, but on the other hand, why didn’t the Brits go public with this at the time? They could have cut the legs out from under the IRA leadership if they said that they’d agreed to the demands but the IRA was still telling the hunger strikers to keep on.

[jla]

Most, if not all, of the Irish I've ever spoken to about this hold Maggie in utter contempt, stating that she allowed Sands et al to die and thought not twice about doing it. As if she was ever responsible for their fate in the first place.
And I wouldn't be surprised in the least to learn that Gerry Adams, a selfish lying cur, used and abandoned his comrades to advance a political agenda.

[trumandogz]

I cannot envision Margaret Thatcher giving in to the Demands of the IRA.

Instead, she viewed the IRA as a Terrorist Organization.

Thatcher would have never given in to such a demand by Terrorists.

By doing so she would have conceded that the UK was at War with the IRA.

No Way!

[ConservativeDude]

a no brainer if you think about it.

Fast forward then 20 years or so, and you will see that Adams and McGuinness (And others) cut their own deals with the British. All of these guys ended up as British agents/informants, in my opinion (not that I care if they betrayed “the cause”)

[Deb]

Of course they did. Every Commie cause needs a martyr. They have to be able to punch the air with their fist and scream a name to remember or they can't feign passion. If they don't get one thru a provoked incident, they create one themselves.

[Deb]

It only ran in one theater in New York. It’s gone now. Next stop...DVD.

[trumandogz]

So you believe that Thatcher negotiated with Terrorists?

[Travis T. OJustice]

In the past couple years, I’ve said that supermodels look like they are on the Bobby Sands Diet Plan, and very few people seemed to understand what i meant. :(

[Deb]

Of course not. We force-feed hunger strikers in Gitmo everyday, that’s not a negotiation.

[azcap]

So you believe that Thatcher negotiated with Terrorists?

Or that Reagan sold arms to the Iranians???
Thatcher would do whatever she though would best serve Britain’s interests. If that meant a covert, deniable deal with terrorists, it would just be a real-Politik decision to measure.

[trumandogz]

The story claims that Thatcher gave in on the demand that the IRA prisoners not be required to wear prison issued clothing. That would thus mean that the IRA inmates were Prisoners of War.

That would have elevated Sands to POW Status and recognized that the UK was at war with the IRA.

[trumandogz]

The deal would not have been deniable once Sands began to eat and all the IRA inmates were then classified as Prisoners of War.