Sands died at 1.17 a.m. on 5 May, instantly becoming one of republicanism’s most revered martyrs. Thatcher coldly informed the Commons that ‘Mr Sands was a convicted criminal. He chose to take his own life. It was a choice his organisation did not allow to many of its victims.’ But although there was little sympathy in Britain, his death generated a huge wave of emotion and anger among republicans and nationalists, an estimated 100,000 people attending his funeral. From the wider world came much international criticism of Britain and of Thatcher, who was widely condemned for inflexibility.
