A FILM on the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands has used his diaries to portray a determined and sincere man who fasted to death.
Sixty Six Days was produced to give younger people a sense of the emotions and political tensions surrounding one of the defining episodes of the Troubles.
It is 35 years since the Maze prison inmate starved himself as part of a Republican campaign for political status.
Sands was hailed a martyr by his supporters, while then prime minister Margaret Thatcher vowed never to bow to the demands of terrorists, and Unionists recalled IRA attacks on prison officers and killings committed even while Sands stood for election to Westminster.
Beginning his action the prisoner recorded: “I am standing on the threshold of another trembling world.
May God have mercy on my soul.”
Sands’ own words form the heart of the documentary- style work, through his many poems, letters and commAunications penned inside prison, and in particular, his personal diary which he kept for the first 17 days of his hunger strike. He wrote: “Human food can never keep a man alive forever and I console myself with the thought that I will get a great feed up above if I am worthy.”
The film by Irish director Brendan Byrne will premier in Belfast at the West Belfast Festival later this summer and will be aired at the Galway film festival this weekend.
Mr Byrne spoke to prison officers, Mrs Thatcher’s biographer Charles Moore and former Tory MP Norman Tebbit. He also interviewed many Republicans who shared the “H Blocks” with Sands.
Mr Byrne said: “I have tried to make it more than just about Bobby Sands, really an exploration of the Republican tradition in Ireland through the lens of Bobby Sands.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel