(Marie Louise McCrory, Irish News)

Thousands of people braved atrocious weather conditions yesterday (Sunday) to mark the 22nd anniversary of the death of hunger striker Bobby Sands.

Marchers gathered in Dunville Park to commemorate the west Belfast 27-year-old and the nine other men who died on hunger strike in 1981.

Relatives of the 10 men held pictures of their loved ones, and other supporters, who had travelled from all over Ireland, carried banners and placards paying tribute to them.

Despite the weather, the crowd remained in high spirits as they listened to two extracts read from a diary kept by Bobby Sands.

Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said he could sense that the "spirit of freedom" was "very strong in Dunville Park".

"We have come here today to remember the hunger strikers, to remember them as heroes, as courageous volunteers, as leaders of the community, as leaders within the prison and as people the British government and its military system could not break," he said.

"We are proud to be here, we are proud to remember them as the heroes and the freedom fighters they were."

Bobby Sands – who was the first hunger striker to die – passed away on the 66th day of hunger strike. The father-of-one died at 1.17am on May 5 1981.

During his hunger strike he was elected to the Westminster parliament as MP for Fermanagh/South Tyrone.

Mr McGuinness said it was "right and proper" that such a large crowd had gathered to honour the 10 men.

"I want to thank each of you for coming along and showing your support for the memory of the hunger strikers and indeed showing your support for the leadership of Sinn Féin at this critical time in our period," he said.

"They took their places in the struggle for Irish freedom.

"They ended up in prison and they went through terrible times in prison and, along with the women in Armagh jail, they fought an incredible battle against the system.

"It wasn't for a week, it wasn't for a month, it wasn't for a year, it was for years and when we reflect on all of that, when we reflect on their courage, then we can see the type of people that they were. People of honesty, people of integrity, people of great discipline and people who were absolutely committed to the struggle for Irish freedom."

This article appeared first in the May 5, 2003 edition of the Irish News.

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