I remember this happening 40 years ago since we didn’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Midwest. St. Patrick’s Day is the Midwest’s preferred binge-drinking holiday.
Sands’ death was a tragic event and in its immediacy, more fighting and killing broke out in Northern Ireland. Additional IRA prisoners died of starvation in the following days too. The UK’s prime minister, the overrated Thatcher, refused to budge or do anything to ameliorate the conflict. However, she lost in the long run. English public opinion eventually turned against her asshole stance; remember, this horrible person had spies infiltrate legitimate unions in her own country. In the short run it didn’t matter, within a year Thatcher distracted her electorate with a bullshit war against Argentina over some worthless rocks.
But in America, the Irish and their descendants (myself included) strengthened their resolve to aid the IRA’s fight against the Protestant-backed terrorist organization, the UDF. Over the years, English citizens began to question why they were the only NATO ally with the largest military deployment in another Western territory (their backyard). Many were horrified to learn their country had a law that made it legal to detain anyone from Ireland without cause; and innocent people were tortured without proof of IRA associations. To make this point across the world, how Gul Madred tortured Captain Picard in Star Trek:The Next Generation‘s “Chain of Command,” was based upon the UK’s policies against IRA suspects.
I do want to make something clear. The IRA committed their share of atrocities and had questionable allies abroad, the PLO was one. The Troubles in Northern Ireland wasn’t a good versus evil conflict. It was an asymmetrical war. The IRA went after more military-based targets and they did make their point bombing London a few times, letting Thatcher know how close they could get. The UDF would just randomly shoot Catholics in their homes, businesses and pubs. Sound familiar? If not, see Israel versus Gaza, the West versus Afghanistan and a dozen other places.
One very lazy Libertarian I used to know, claimed the fight went on due to the IRA’s inability to accept democratic results. What democracy? It was the Orangemen’s failure to respect the minorities’ rights via their bullying, murdering and apartheid policies. Bobby Sands joined the IRA because he grew tired of how the Orangemen treated him. Hell, Northern Ireland (or Ulster) only exists due the Protestant majorities’ irrational fears of the Republic of Ireland’s Catholic majority. As if they’d be forced to convert? Given how much Ireland evolved into an economic power and adopted the social policies of other EU states, the UDF proved to be full of shite. Now with Brexit becoming a disaster on numerous levels, Ulster is realizing it would be better off joining Ireland instead of committing suicide with Boorish Johnson. I also believe, newer generations of residents came to see the fight as pointless and didn’t want to continue the bloodshed.
Still, Sands’ death did pave the way for the Troubles to end decades later. The English government proved they had grown tired of it by finally telling the Orangemen to “cut the shit” with their July 1 parades through Catholic neighborhoods. Slick Willie helped put together the Easter Accords and the IRA has mostly laid down its guns to participate in the process through their now legal political party Sinn Féin. It just would’ve been better if the US used its position to bring an end to this sooner. To me, this is the role the US should be leading in.
Meanwhile, I think I’ll get a book to find better, tighter and more accurate details over the Troubles and IRA. I readily admit I’m biased. I’ve certainly changed my mind over the years regarding the conflict especially when I was at Marquette and wrote a paper about John Mitchel, a Irish Protestant who was part of the Irish Nationalist movement. Plus I met real Irish citizens to hear their experiences.