However, neither Morley nor the IRA had any power to alter the substance of the speech, a decision to remove Special Category status. Days after Rees spoke, the IRA handed over a document to the prison authorities stating that negotiations were being broken off. This document said: ‘We are prepared to die for the right to retain political status. Those who try to take it away must be fully prepared to pay the same price.’19 At the time this seemed like a piece of braggadocio, but both the IRA and the British were serious about their respective policies. Prison Officer Cassidy was one of the
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