Bobby Sands, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a Member of Parliament, died on May 5, 1981, in HM Prison Maze, Northern Ireland, after 66 days on hunger strike. Sands was protesting the British government's withdrawal of Special Category Status for republican prisoners, which he and others viewed as political status. His death, and those of nine other hunger strikers, garnered international attention and intensified the conflict during The Troubles, leading to a surge in IRA recruitment and activity.
