Ex-IRA inmates Richard O’Rawe and Gerard Hodgins visit Cuffs restaurant at former prison
When the ex-IRA prisoners Gerard Hodgins and Richard O’Rawe last passed through the gates of Belfast’s Crumlin Road jail their city was in a state of war and their one thought on entering the Victorian prison was to escape.
They entered a regime of beatings at the hands of some prison staff, cockroach-infested cells, frequent clashes with their Ulster loyalist enemies and having to “slop out” in the morning if they went to the toilet during the nightly lock-up.
Related: Deal could have ended IRA hunger strike, says former press officer
Related: Melanie McFadyean on the legacy of the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland
Continue reading...