The National Hunger Strike Commemoration will take place this Sunday at 2.30pm in Ballina, County Mayo. The event marks 45 years since the 1981 hunger strike in which ten men died. It will also remember all Irish republicans who died on hunger strike, with particular focus on three Mayo hunger strikers: Michael Gaughan (1974), Frank Stagg (1976), and Jack McNeela (1940).

The commemoration comes five decades after the commencement of the blanket protest in September 1976 and the two hunger strikes that took place in 1980 and 1981. The 1981 hunger strike was a response to the British government's policy of criminalisation, which sought to treat republican prisoners as ordinary criminals rather than political prisoners. The hunger strikers demanded political status, and the strike ended after the deaths of ten prisoners when the demands were effectively met.

Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams reflected on the hunger strike in a column, describing the determination of those who took part. He noted that the men and women in the H-Blocks and Armagh Women's Prison believed they had no other option and were aware of the probable consequences. Adams said the hunger strike was about a principle of justice and that it succeeded in defeating the criminalisation policy. He also said the hunger strike was a tipping point in modern Irish history that continues to resonate today, evidenced not only in the strength of Sinn Féin but also in the growing demand around Irish unity.

The commemoration will include contributions from former hunger striker Laurence McKeown, who has written a memoir titled 'And Flowers Grew Up Through the Concrete'. In the memoir, McKeown reflects on a well-known quote by Bobby Sands: 'Let our revenge be the laughter of our children.' McKeown writes that the quote contains no bitterness or call for vengeance, but rather hope for laughter for a new generation that would know nothing about internment, criminalisation, hunger strikes, and armed conflict.

The event in Ballina is open to the public. Further details are available from the organisers.