June 10 1974
“We went on hunger strike 206 days ago in support of our demand for political prisoner status and transfer to prison in Northern Ireland,” says a statement issued on Saturday by Dolours and Marion Price, Gerry Kelly and Hugh Feeney.
“For 167 days of that period, we were forcibly fed until some of the doctors refused to continue the practice,” the statement adds and continues:
“On June 1, the Home Secretary, Mr Roy Jenkins, issued a statement about our position. He said that he believed that it would be possible and reasonable for us to serve the bulk of our long sentence in Northern Ireland. In the days following the release of that statement, clarification of its meaning was transmitted to use from the Home Office through Lord Brockway, Mr Albert Stallard MP and Assemblyman Paddy Devlin.
“Having carefully considered all these developments over the past week, we have decided to terminate our hunger strike. This decision is an act of trust on our part, a trust which must be reciprocated. It was taken by us personally and not under pressure from our parents or anybody else.
“Our parents were not responsible for our original decision to go on hunger strike but they supported us in carrying it through; they are not responsible for our present decision but once again they support us. We cannot thank them sufficiently for their solidarity with us. We also wish to thank other individuals and groups for their support. In this connection we must give special mention to the Joint Action Committee in London who have helped us and our relatives so much over the past seven months.
“A number of considerations compelled us to make our present decisions. First of all we considered that we had an obligation to preserve our own lives when a reasonable response had been given to our demands. Ours was never a suicide mission since we did not set out to kill ourselves but only to secure just and indeed minimal demands. These demands had, previously been granted to many other prisoners.
“We were also concerned least our deaths should bring further suffering to the people of Ireland. Our purpose has never been to cause suffering to others. We deeply regret the death of Michael Gaughan and offer our most sincere sympathy to his family and friends.”