Maze inmate insists IRA blocked hunger strike deal
Richard O’Rawe, the Provisionals’ spokesman inside the Maze Prison, revealed he has been ostracised for alleging the leadership refused a package of British concessions.
Margaret Thatcher’s administration was prepared to meet nearly all of the demands in a move that would have halted the protest just before the fifth prisoner died, he insisted.
But the IRA’s Army Council refused to call off the fasts until 10 of their men were dead.
Mr O’Rawe’s claims that the ruling body wanted to use public sympathy to win a by-election have provoked a republican backlash.
Brendan “Bik” McFarlane, leader of the H-Block prisoners during the hunger strikes of 1981, denied a deal was rejected before the death of Joe McDonnell, the fifth prisoner to die.
“As the officer commanding in the prison at the time, I can say categorically that there was no outside intervention to prevent a deal,” he said.
“Once the strike was under way, the only people in a position to agree a deal or call off the hunger strike were the prisoners, and particularly the hunger strikers themselves.”
Danny Morrison, former head of Sinn Féin publicity, also hit out at Mr O’Rawe’s claims, insisting they would only cause further distress for the families of those who died. “He should hang his head in shame,” Mr Morrison said.
But Mr O’Rawe, 51, stood by his account, contained in a new book, Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike, published yesterday by New Island.
According to the west Belfast man four key demands were conceded by the British Government: prisoners’ right to wear their own clothes, segregation from loyalists, more visits and education as part of their work regime.
“This hasn’t been said for 24 years because it would be a massive embarrassment if they accepted the Army Council of the IRA refused to acquiesce with the prisoners’ acceptance of the deal,” he said. “The consequence of that would be that responsibility for the deaths would shift from the Brits to the IRA.”
Mr O’Rawe, who was freed in 1983 after serving six years of a sentence for armed robbery, said he was devastated when the compromise broke down.
Although many of his friends are still in the republican movement, he severed ties in a bid to spend more time with his family.
The outrage at his version came as no surprise, he said. “They are rallying the troops and it won’t stop here,” he said.
“But this is a battle they can’t win because I have the truth on my side.”
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