Ireland's OWN: Hungerstrikes 8 August 2006 1976: Backlash expected as special status was abolished —by Eamonn Phoenix, Irish News Stormont officials did not rule out the possibility of 'violent resistance' following the ending of special category status for paramilitary prisoners in March 1976. Special status had been introduced in June 1972 by the then secretary of state, William Whitelaw, after a hunger strike in Belfast Prison. However, the Gardiner Committee in 1975 had come out strongly against it, leading Merlin Rees, as secretary of state, to announce its phasing out from March 1 1976. A memo on the issue was circulated to the members of the Policy Coordinating Committee at Stormont on March 10 1976. This explained that special status sought to distinguish between "ordinary criminals" and those serving sentences due to the "disturbed political situation". The document went on: "The demand for some form of special recognition of politically motivated offenders has been a recurring theme of troubled times in Irish history. "The classification of special category introduced in 1972 is a purely administrative arrangement; it is not in any sense a legal classification. "It is available only for convicted prisoners serving sentences of nine months or more. "Prisoners apply to the governor for special category. [He] seeks advice from the security forces as to whether the prisoner was associated with the paramilitary group of which he claims membership. On the basis of this advice a decision is taken. "Refusal of applications is comparatively rare." There were three elements in special category status: "First, they are not required to do work; second, they can wear their own clothing; thirdly, they are allowed weekly letters at public expense and weekly visits and parcels which may include food and tobacco." The memo revealed that the population of special category prisoners had grown rapidly both in numbers and as a proportion of the total population of convicted prisoners. In 1973 there were 379 special category prisoners, representing about 42 per cent of the convicted prison population. By the time of writing (March 1976), there were 1,498 special category prisoners, amounting to 68 per cent of the population. By this stage the proportion of loyalist prisoners in this category had steadily increased. Fifteen per cent of the special category group had been sentenced for murder or violence against the person while firearms and explosives offences comprised another 56 per cent. The memo acknowledged the existence of paramilitary control structures in the north's jails. "Inevitably, the compounds have thrown up their own leaders who may in some cases exert considerable power and influence over the man," the files state. "Special category is in effect a declaration of continued allegiance to paramilitary groups which organise or condone violent crimes. "The paramilitary groups themselves seek to improve their standing by providing financial and moral support for their members in prison and their families. "Community attitudes to crime and to prison are blurred when offenders can be represented as loyalist or republican prisoners of war. Special category is regarded as a badge of respectability, particularly among young prisoners." The result was that families felt that they could "hold up their heads" in the community" if their son enjoyed special status. Moreover, "special category status encourages prisoners, their organisations and families to hold firmly to the mistaken belief that one day they will be the subject of an amnesty". In a final paragraph, the document admitted that there would be "difficult times ahead". "And above all, we may expect resistance, possibly violent resistance, to the ending of new admissions to special category," it read. Within two weeks of the government's decision the IRA issued a threat to warders running the new scheme and on September 16 1976 Kieran Nugent, the first IRA member convicted since the abolition of special category status, refused to wear prison clothes. The blanket protest had begun. See Also: The Irish Hungerstrikes Page last updated 8 Jan 2007 Ireland's OWN Logo & Irish Hungerstrike Background by Míchealín Daugherty Copyright © 2007 Ireland's OWN. All Rights Reserved.