1999 Read Free Page B

first man to go on hunger strike on March 1, 1981; in the April by-election Sands stood for the British Parliament and won, defeating the Unionist candidate; died on May 5, his sixty-sixth day without food.
    Shankill Butchers and victims: As named in text and according to police sources.
    Spence, Gusty (b. 1933): Born in the Shankill area of Belfast; joined the Royal Ulster Rifles in 1957 and served in Cyprus; joined the UVF in 1965 as commanding officer of the Shankill unit; arrested in 1972 and imprisoned in the Maze; resigned from the UVF in 1978; in 1991 became commander of combined loyalist forces that declared a ceasefire in 1994.
    Stalker, John (b. 1945): Served on the police force of Manchester, England, for over twenty years; in 1978 promoted to head of the Warwickshire CID; in 1984 named deputy chief constable of Greater Manchester.
    Stephenson, Sam: Irish architect who designed Dublin Civic Offices at Wood Quay.
    Stone, Michael “Flint”: Loyalist gunman convicted of the murders of three men during a funeral at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast.
    Tebbit, Norman: Secretary of state for trade and industry in the Thatcher government.
    Thain, Ian: Private in the British army convicted of murdering a northern Catholic and imprisoned for life. Released after only two years and returned to his regiment.
    Thatcher, Margaret Hilda, nee Roberts (b. 1925): Conservative British prime minister known as “The Iron Lady.” Daughter of a grocer who had a minor career in the Conservative Party and eventually became mayor of Grantham. Margaret Roberts was educated at Oxford; worked as a research chemist; married Dennis Thatcher, wealthy oil industry executive; read for the bar and specialised in tax law; elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1959; became a cabinet minister under Edward Heath 1970–74; succeeded Heath as Conservative leader in 1975; became prime minister of the United Kingdom in 1979; was Britain’s longest serving prime minister in the twentieth century before being ousted in 1990 and replaced as head of the Conservative Party and prime minister by John Major.
    Twomey, Séamus (1919–89): Commandant of the Belfast Brigade; succeeded Seán MacStiofáin as chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.
    Vidal, Gore (b. 1925): American novelist; born at West Point; served in the Pacific in World War Two; his works included Williwaw, The City and the Pillar, Myra Breckinridge, Washington, DC, Burr, 1876, and Julian.
    Widgery, Lord Chief Justice: British jurist who conducted the first tribunal to investigate Bloody Sunday.
    Wilson, Fr. Des: Catholic priest from Gerry Adams’ parish of West Belfast who became involved early on in conflict resolution in the north; in the 1970s he did much work in the prisons.
    Wilson, James Harold (1916–95): The son of an industrial chemist; educated at Oxford; member of the Labour Party; elected to the House of Commons in 1945; prime minister of the United Kingdom 1964–70, 1974–76.
    Wright, Billy (1960–97): Known as “King Rat,” Wright was the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Prologue
    Excerpt from the Address of the Continental Congress
to the People of Ireland
on the eve of the American Revolution

    â€œFriends And Fellow Subjects. We are desirous of possessing the good opinion of the virtuous and humane. We are peculiarly desirous of furnishing the People of Ireland with a true statement of our motives and objects, the better to enable you to judge of our conduct with accuracy, and determine the merits of the controversy with impartiality and precision.
    You have been friendly to the rights of mankind, and we acknowledge with pleasure and gratitude that the Irish Nation has produced patriots who have highly distinguished themselves in the cause of humanity and America. On the other hand, we are not ignorant that the labours and manufactures of Ireland, like those of the silk-worm, were of little moment to herself, but