Bobby Sands, born on 9 March 1954 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, died at the age of 27 on 5 May 1981. Sands was an Irish political activist and Provisional Irish Republican Army member. He gained international attention for his hunger strike which aimed to gain political status for the prisoners of Long Kesh Prison, sometimes referred to as the Maze Prison. Sands was the leader of the strike and was elected to the British House of Commons in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election of April 1981 while on hunger strike in prison. At the age of 18, Sands joined the Provisional Irish Republican Army and was incarcerated in 1976 when found in possession of explosive devices and weapons. During his time in prison he became a prolific writer, earning three literary awards. In 1981, he was chosen by inmates of the prison to be the spokesman for their demands to reinstate political status under Special Category Status in the face of the British Government’s intention to criminalise them. On 5 May 1981, after 66 days of hunger strike, Sands died from starvation, his death widely publicised around the world. His funeral was widely attended and he is widely regarded still as a powerful symbol of martyrdom in the Irish Republican struggle for freedom.