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The 1980s

Republican prisoners embarked on a major and sustained hunger strike, culminating in the deaths of ten prisoners, in 1981. This action created intense local and international publicity and led to widespread civil disturbance in Northern Ireland. The Government of the day refused to meet the demands of the prisoners, though many of the issues were addressed in the aftermath of the hunger strike.

In 1982, loyalist prisoners, in collusion with the republicans, launched a campaign for segregation in the Maze H-Blocks. In October 1982, some 200 cells were wrecked. Subsequent to this and a 'dirty protest', segregation on the grounds of paramilitary association was granted.

The following year, 1983, saw the escape of thirty-eight republican prisoners from Maze. The then Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sir James Hennessy, headed the inquiry into the escape and made a series of recommendations.