Anti H-Block

 ( 1981 Disestablishments In Ireland ) 

Anti H-Block was the political label used in 1981 by supporters of the Irish republican hunger strike who were standing for election in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. "H-Block" was a metonymy for the Maze Prison and its H-shaped cell blocks, within which the hunger strike was taking place.

Bobby Sands, the first of these hunger strikers, was nominated in the Westminster April 1981 by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. After his electoral victory and death, the Representation of the People Act was passed to prevent convicted prisoners serving sentences of more than one year from serving in the UK parliament. In response, Owen Carron, Sands's agent, stood as an "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner", winning a seat in the subsequent August by-election.

In the Republic of Ireland's general election in June 1981 twelve candidates ran under the Anti H-Block banner, nine of whom were prisoners. Kieran Doherty and Paddy Agnew won seats in Cavan–Monaghan and Louth respectively, while both Joe McDonnell and Martin Hurson narrowly missed election in Sligo–Leitrim and Longford–Westmeath. Eamonn Sweeney noted that:

The successes of the Anti H-Block movement galvanised the Irish republican movement, and led to the entry the following year into mainstream electoral politics of Sinn Féin.

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Candidates in the 1981 Irish general election Nine candidates were officially endorsed by the Anti H-Block committee, eight of which were imprisoned at the time.

Candidates:

Denotes candidates elected to Dáil Éireann
     

Cavan–Monaghan	Kieran Doherty	Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin	9,121	15.10	Elected on the fourth count
Clare	Tom McAllister	INLA – Irish Republican Socialist Party	2,120	4.68
Cork North-Central	Mairéad Farrell	Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin	2,751	6.05
Dublin West	Anthony O'Hara	INLA – Irish Republican Socialist Party	3,034	6.49	Candidate was the brother of Patsy O'Hara
Kerry North	Seán McKenna	Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin	3,860	11.26
	Martin Hurson	Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin	4,573	10.08	Was not eliminated. Deemed not elected on last count
Louth	Paddy Agnew	Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin	8,368	18.29	Topped the Poll
Sligo–Leitrim	Joe McDonnell	Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin	5,639	11.82	Eliminated on fourth count
Waterford	Kevin Lynch	INLA – Irish Republican Socialist Party	3,337	7.63

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Literature

• Sweeney, Eamonn, Down down deeper and down : Ireland in the 70s and 80s; Dublin : Gill & Macmillan, 2010.
• End of Hungerstrike Statement (by the prisoners), at the Internet Archive

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Footnotes

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