'There was no hunger strike deal'.A FORMER IRA prisoner yesterday denied claims he was aware of a deal which could have saved the lives of six hunger strikers. The Derry prisoner was a cellmate cell·mate n. A person with whom one shares a cell, especially in a prison. of Richard O'Rawe who alleged an agreement had been reached by prisoners but rejected by the IRA and Sinn Fein Sinn Fein n. An Irish political and cultural society founded about 1905 to promote political and economic independence from England, unification of Ireland, and a renewal of Irish culture. outside. O'Rawe said the republican leadership wouldn't let the hunger strike end because they wanted to ensure Owen Carron was elected to replace Bobby Sands as MP. In his book Blanketmen: An Untold Story Of The H-Block Hunger Strike, O'Rawe said the Government offered a deal after the fourth man died but the IRA rejected it. Yesterday O'Rawe's former cellmate Colm Scullion scul·lion n. A servant employed to do menial tasks in a kitchen. [Middle English sculyon, probably from Old French escouvillon, dishcloth, diminutive of escouve, said: "There was no deal. We all desperately hoped there would be a deal. "Unfortunately the British Government refused to stand over or verify what it was offering. It refused to send any of its representatives in to meet the hunger strikers." CAPTION(S): STRIKER: Sands |
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