Sands died on 5 May 1981 in the Maze's prison hospital after 66 days on hunger strike, aged 27. The original
pathologist's report recorded the hunger strikers' causes of death as "self-imposed starvation", amended to simply "starvation" following protests by the dead strikers' families. The
coroner recorded verdicts of "starvation, self-imposed". Sands was one of 22 Irish republicans (in the 20th century) who died on hunger strike. Sands became a
martyr to Irish republicans, and the announcement of his death prompted several days of rioting in
nationalist areas of
Northern Ireland. More than 100,000 people lined the route of Sands's funeral from St. Luke's Catholic Church in
Twinbrook, and he was buried in the
'New Republican Plot' alongside 76 others. Their graves are maintained by the
National Graves Association, Belfast.
Reactions Britain In response to a question in the
House of Commons on 5 May 1981 the UK Prime Minister,
Margaret Thatcher, said, "Mr Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice that his organisation did not allow to many of its victims." Cardinal
Basil Hume, head of the
Catholic Church in England and Wales, condemned Sands, describing the hunger strike as a form of violence. However he noted that this was his personal view. The Catholic Church's official stance was that ministrations should be provided to the hunger strikers who, believing their sacrifice to be for a higher good, were acting in good conscience. Celtic fans regularly sing the republican song "The Roll of Honour", which commemorates the 10 men who died in the 1981 hunger strike, amongst other songs in support of the IRA. Sands is mentioned in the line "They stood beside their leader – the gallant Bobby Sands." Rangers' taunts have since been adopted by the travelling support of other UK clubs, particularly those with strong
British nationalist ties, as a form of
anti-Irish sentiment. The
1981 British Home Championship football tournament was cancelled following the refusal of teams from England and Wales to travel to Northern Ireland in the aftermath of his death, due to security concerns.
Europe In Europe, there were widespread protests after Sands's death. 5,000
Milanese students burned the
Union Flag and chanted "Freedom for Ulster" during a march. The British Consulate at
Ghent was raided. In
Paris, thousands marched "behind a huge portrait of Sands, to chants of 'the IRA will conquer'". In the
Portuguese Parliament, the
opposition stood in a minute's silence for Sands. In
Oslo, one demonstrator threw a tomato at
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, but missed. In the
Soviet Union,
Pravda described it as "another tragic page in the grim chronicle of oppression, discrimination, terror, and violence" in Ireland. Many French towns and cities have streets named after Sands, including
Nantes,
Saint-Étienne,
Le Mans,
Vierzon, and
Saint-Denis. According to Beresford, the conservative-aligned
West German newspaper
Die Welt took a negative view towards Sands saying "the British Government was right and [Sands] was simply trying to blackmail the state with his life".
Americas A number of political, religious, union and fund-raising institutions chose to honour Sands in the United States. The
International Longshoremen's Association in New York announced a 24-hour boycott of British ships. The
Chicago Tribune wrote that "
Mahatma Gandhi used the hunger strike to move his countrymen to abstain from fratricide. Bobby Sands's deliberate slow suicide is intended to precipitate civil war. The former deserved veneration and influence. The latter would be viewed, in a reasonable world, not as a charismatic martyr but as a fanatical suicide, whose regrettable death provides no sufficient occasion for killing others." In an editorial,
The New York Times wrote that "Britain's prime minister Thatcher is right in refusing to yield political status to Bobby Sands, the Irish Republican Army hunger striker", but added that by appearing "unfeeling and unresponsive" the British Government was giving Sands "the crown of martyrdom". The
San Francisco Chronicle argued that political belief should not exempt activists from criminal law: Terrorism goes far beyond the expression of political belief. And dealing with it does not allow for compromise as many countries of Western Europe and United States have learned. The bombing of bars, hotels, restaurants, robbing of banks, abductions, and killings of prominent figures are all criminal acts and must be dealt with by criminal law. Some American critics and journalists suggested that American press coverage was a "melodrama". Edward Langley of
The Pittsburgh Press criticised the large pro-IRA Irish-American contingent which "swallow IRA propaganda as if it were
taffy", and concluded that IRA "terrorist propaganda triumphs". Archbishop
John R. Roach, president of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, called Sands's death "a useless sacrifice".
The Ledger of 5 May 1981 claimed that the hunger strike made Sands "a hero among Irish Republicans, or nationalists, seeking the reunion of Protestant-dominated and British-ruled Northern Ireland with the independent and predominantly Catholic Irish Republic to the south".
The Ledger quoted Sands as saying "If I die, God will understand" and "Tell everyone I'll see them somewhere, sometime". The Iranian government renamed Winston Churchill Boulevard, the location of the
Embassy of the United Kingdom in Tehran, to Bobby Sands Street, prompting the embassy to move its entrance door to
Ferdowsi Street to avoid using Bobby Sands Street on its letterhead. A street in the
Elahieh district is also named after Sands. An official blue and white street sign was affixed to the rear wall of the British embassy compound saying (in Persian) "Bobby Sands Street" with three words of explanation "militant Irish guerrilla". A burger bar in Tehran is named in honour of Sands.
Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in the
Israeli desert prison of Nafha sent a letter, which was smuggled out and reached Belfast in July 1981, which read: "To the families of Bobby Sands and his martyred comrades. We, revolutionaries of the Palestinian people...extend our salutes and solidarity with you in the confrontation against the oppressive terrorist rule enforced upon the Irish people by the British ruling elite. We salute the heroic struggle of Bobby Sands and his comrades, for they have sacrificed the most valuable possession of any human being. They gave their lives for freedom." The
Hindustan Times said Margaret Thatcher had allowed a fellow Member of Parliament to die of starvation, an incident which had never before occurred "in a civilised country". In the
Indian Parliament, opposition members in the
upper house Rajya Sabha stood for a minute's silence in tribute. The ruling
Congress Party did not participate. Protest marches were organised against the British government and in tribute to Sands and his fellow hunger strikers. In Hong Kong,
The Standard said it was "sad that successive British governments have failed to end the last of Europe's religious wars".
Memorials In
Hartford, Connecticut, a memorial to Sands and the other hunger strikers was dedicated in 1997, the only one of its kind in the United States. Established by the
Irish Northern Aid Committee and local Irish-Americans, it stands on a traffic island known as Bobby Sands Circle at the bottom of Maple Avenue near Goodwin Park. In 2001, a memorial to Sands and the other hunger strikers was unveiled in
Havana, Cuba. In
Providence, Rhode Island, a monument to Sands and the other hunger strikers was unveiled in May 2023. In May 2025, a statue of Sands was unveiled at the Republican Memorial Garden in Twinbrook, Belfast, to coincide with the 44th anniversary of his death. ==Political impact==