Bobby Sands statue unveiled to mark anniversary of IRA hunger striker's death
A statue has been unveiled in memory of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in Belfast, marking the 44th anniversary of his death.
The statue of the hunger striker and former MP was revealed at the Republican Memorial Garden in Twinbrook.
Sands, a father-of-one, died on May 5 during the 1981 hunger strike, when he was aged 27.
Seven IRA prisoners and three from the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) died during the prison strike.
Members of the pubic attend the unveiling of the Bobby Sands statue (Brian Lawless/PA)
Their aim was to force then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher's government to recognise them as political prisoners. Sands was the first to refuse food in March 1981 and the first to starve to death after 66 days.
Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams was among those to attend the event to commemorate Sands.
Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan, the main speaker at the event, said: 'By their heroism and sacrifice, Bobby and the other hunger strikers ensured that the cause of Irish freedom was renewed, and now in 2025 we are closer than ever to undoing the justice of partition and reuniting our country.
'Their bravery set in motion a series of events that makes a momentum for political and social change unstoppable and irreversible.
'That momentum will carry us forward to the realisation of an Irish national democracy, a Republic where the rights and identity of all our people of whatever persuasion or background will be accommodated and cherished.
'Bobby didn't die just to prove he was right. He had a vision and a belief and an idea that his suffering and death would lead to a better world for the rest of us, and today, we are in a better place.
'We no longer need or expect our young men and women to risk their lives in liberty on active service or the hunger strike in prison cells. And that's not to say there isn't work to be done.
'We need to redouble our efforts, and all of us put our shoulders to the wheel. Irish unity is not inevitable. We need to make it happen.
The statue was unveiled at the Republican Memorial Garden in Twinbrook (Brian Lawless/PA)
'Forty-four years after his death in the H-Blocks, Bobby Sands' name lives on.'
The Belfast MLA said that Sands should not be remembered as a hunger striker only.
'Like all of us, he was multifaceted,' he added.
'He was a loving father of an eight-year-old son, and also a loving son and brother. Bobby was a friend and comrade to many. He was a community activist, particularly here in Twinbrook between his two periods of imprisonment.
'He was a musician, a songwriter, a poet and a prolific writer. He was a Gaeilgeoir. Bobby was a blanket man, a political prisoner of war, a socialist, a leader, a revolutionary, a volunteer of Óglaigh na hÉireann.
'Bobby Sands was a young man who resisted until his last breath. He was our hunger striker. He is our hero.'
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