Political Prisoners and the Irish Conflict 100 Years On

Anna Bryson,Kieran Mcevoy,Allely Albert

doi:10.1111/hojo.12436

Abstract

AbstractThis article traces the impact of Irish political prisoners on the prison landscape in Ireland, north and south, over the past 100 years. For the post‐1969 period in Northern Ireland, it explores three different styles of prison management: reactive containment, criminalisation, and managerialism. It also examines the ways in which political prisoners sought to resist, including through strategic use of law, dirty protests and hunger strikes, escapes and the use of violence. The article then discusses the early release of prisoners under the Good Friday Agreement and the role that ex‐prisoners have played in the peace process. It concludes with some reflections on the ongoing tensions between the state and dissident republican prisoners, asking what lessons (if any) can be gleaned from the past 100 years.

Highlights

The plight of political prisoners in Ireland was discussed at the first annual meeting of the Howard League for Penal Reform in June 1921.1 The Committee registered ‘grave concern’ regarding ‘very serious allegations with regard to the treatment of prisoners ... in Ireland’
We reflect on the lessons that can be gleaned from that long experience in light of contemporary challenges associated with ‘dissident’ republican prisoners held in Northern Ireland
While a similar contest ensued in the Irish Republic, for reasons of space we focus on the experience of male republican prisoners in Northern Ireland

Summary

Introduction

The plight of political prisoners in Ireland was discussed at the first annual meeting of the Howard League for Penal Reform in June 1921.1 The Committee registered ‘grave concern’ regarding ‘very serious allegations with regard to the treatment of prisoners ... in Ireland’. Following the Easter Rising of 1916, the British government imprisoned and interned thousands of Irish republican prisoners in Ireland, England and Wales (O’Mahony 1987). Political Imprisonment and the Northern Ireland Conflict: Management, Resistance and Release

Results

Conclusion