Brendan McFarlane,
the leader of the H-Block prisoners during the hunger strikes of 1981,
has rejected any suggestion that a deal was rejected before the death
of Joe McDonnell.
The North Belfast man said the claims in Richard O'Rawe's book
entitled Blanketmen: The Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike had
caused distress among the families of the hunger strikers.
In his book O'Rawe claims the final six men to die were sacrificed
for political reasons and to help the election of Owen Carron to Bobby
Sands' Westminster seat.
"All of us, particularly the families of the men who died, carry
the tragedy and trauma of the hunger strikes with us every day of our
lives.
"It was an emotional and deeply distressing time for those of us
who were in the H-Blocks and close to the hunger strikers," said
Brendan McFarlane.
"However, as the Officer Commanding in the prison at the time, I
can say categorically that there was no outside intervention to prevent
a deal.
"The only outside intervention was to try to prevent the hunger strike.
"Once the strike was underway, the only people in a position to
agree a deal or call off the hunger strike were the prisoners –
particularly the hunger strikers themselves.
"The political responsibility for the hunger strike, and the
deaths that resulted from it, both inside and outside the prison, lies
with Margaret Thatcher, who reneged on the deal which ended the first
hunger strike.
"This bad faith and duplicity lead directly to the deaths of our friends and comrades in 1981".
Raymond McCartney, a former hunger striker and now Sinn Féin MLA for Foyle, also said O'Rawe's claims lacked credibility.
"Richard's recollection of events is not accurate or credible.
"The hunger strike was a response to Thatcher's criminalisation campaign.
"The move to hunger strike resulted from the prisoners' decision to
escalate the protest after five years of beatings, starvation and
deprivation.
"The leadership of the IRA and of Sinn Féin tried to persuade us not to embark on this course of action.
"At all times we, the prisoners, took the decisions."
