Guthanna ’81

An army of activists, sympathisers, family members, friends and comrades were the backbone of the solidarity movement supporting the 1981 hunger strike.

Guthanna 81′ is their story, their voices, their eye-witness testimony, expressing profound emotion, immense heartache, but absolute awe at the dignity and suffering of the ten menwhose deaths symbolised the moral authority and integrity.

1981 represented an epic battle of wills between the prisoners and the British Government whose aim was to inflict a decisive and demoralising blow against the struggle for freedom.

The British lost.

But this turning point in the struggle came at great cost.

This is the story of those seven months of hunger strike and the indomitable resistance they inspired.