The August 1981 Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election was the second

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in the same year, held in Fermanagh and South Tyrone on 20 August 1981. It was seen by many as a rerun of the earlier contest in April. The by-election was caused by the death of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

hunger striker A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

and MP

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison M ...

Background of the constituency

The constituency, based on the districts of

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of a ...

and Dungannon, was created in 1950 and had seen a series of closely fought elections between unionist and

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

candidates, with several elections being won due to the absence of competing candidates on one side or the other. The April by-election was a straight contest between Sands, standing as " Anti-H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner" and the former

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

MP and leader

Harry West Henry William West (27 March 1917 – 5 February 2004) was a politician in Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 1974 until 1979. Career to Stormont West was born in County Fermanagh and educated at Portora R ...

, with no other candidates standing. Sands won with a majority of 1446 (with 3280 spoilt ballot papers).

Candidates in the 1981 by-election

Following Sands' victory and death shortly afterwards, the British government passed the

Representation of the People Act Representation of the People Act is a stock short title used in Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Pakistan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, ...

barring prisoners from standing for Parliament. As a result, another prisoner on hunger strike could not be nominated. Instead

Owen Carron Owen Gerard Carron (born 9 February 1953) is an Irish republican activist who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Fermanagh and South Tyrone from 1981 to 1983. Early life Carron was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. He qualified as a teach ...

, who had served as Sands' agent in the earlier election, was nominated as an "

Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner Anti H-Block was the political label used in 1981 by supporters of the Irish republican hunger strike who were standing for election in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. "H-Block" was a metonym for the Maze Prison, within whos ...

". The Ulster Unionists nominated a new candidate, Ken Maginnis, who had recently retired from the

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

with the rank of Major, who was on the liberal wing of the party. Maginnis was unusual amongst Ulster Unionist candidates as he had never been a member of the Orange Order. The new by-election also saw four additional candidates stand.

Seamus Close Seamus Anthony Close OBE (12 August 1947 – 7 May 2019) was a Northern Irish politician, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley and a deputy leader of the Alliance Party. In August 1981, he was the Alliance candidate for ...

stood for the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembl ...

even though this was traditionally one of their weakest areas. Tom Moore stood for the Workers Party Republican Clubs who were descended from the

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...

. Two fringe candidates also stood: Martin Green on a "General Amnesty" ticket and Simon Hall-Raleigh as "The Peace Lover."

Results

There were 804 spoilt votes. Compared to the April election, turnout rose by 1.7%, whilst there were over two and a half thousand fewer spoilt papers. Most of these additional votes went to the additional parties standing.

References

External links

Campaign literature from the by-election
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fermanagh And South Tyrone By-Election, August 1981 By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Fermanagh constituencies By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in County Tyrone constituencies 1981 elections in the United Kingdom 20th century in County Fermanagh 20th century in County Tyrone 1981 elections in Northern Ireland 1981 Irish hunger strike