IRA member play: Here are 57 people who were killed outside the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike

The play which opens today at the council-run Market Place Theatre in Armagh is about Martin Hurson, and is being stagd at 8pm on Wednesday through to Saturday.

It has attracted controversy, with critics believing that the focus of attention should be on civilians and security force members who were killed at that time, rather than on a member of an outlawed terror group who killed himself

Now, in a bid to drive home this point, on the eve of the play commencing SEFF has released a list of 57 people who were killed among the general population over the duration of the hunger strike (March 1 to October 3) in which 10 IRA and INLA men died.

The list of the 57 dead excludes members of proscribed organisations.

Accompanying the list was a statement from SEFF, which said: "We are clear that the death of 10 men on hunger strike was a human tragedy and no-one with a semblance of Christianity within their DNA would take glee in their demise.

"Their families left behind mourn their loss and we acknowledge that.

"But what we will not ever acknowledge or accept is the manipulation of the truth, the 10 men who died on hunger strike were terrorists (as per national and international law) they were insurrectionists, and they were criminals who were convicted of serious crimes including murder...

"Coinciding with the holding of the play SEFF will be publishing a short film on our SEFF Victims and Survivors Facebook page on Wednesday, October 2. The film will also be available on YouTube. This production will remember those who had no choice.”

The video “deals with the misrepresentation of Martin Hurson's life through the theatre's promo material” and “speaks to the realities of his convictions, also covering the crimes each of the hunger strikers were incarcerated for and then it features the 10 innocents murdered across Co Antrim by the PIRA whilst the hunger strikes were taking place”.

The Martin Hurson Story is advertised on the VisitArmagh.com website, where it is listed as sold out.

It is described as telling the story of “this country lad in a heart-breaking and honest way," adding: “There is no happy ending, no fairytale story... The story of Martin Hurson begins with his arrest and brutal interrogation in Omagh Barracks.

“His eventual sentence and participation in the no-wash protests leads to his joining the second hunger strike in May 1981. This is a hard-hitting story acted out by a brilliant cast with no frills and no sense of triumphalism.

"It’s a story that could be told, should be told and will be told for future generations to appreciate and understand the horrors of those dark days of our recent past.”

• Here is the SEFF list of deaths during that hunger strike in 1981:

Gerry Roland, 45 – Armagh

Civilian, Catholic, Married with six children.

19th March 1981 – Gerry was murdered by the IRA as he and his 16-year-old son help a friend search for a missing lorry. The lorry had been hijacked by IRA gunmen. Gerry and his friend discovered the lorry a short distance from the border. Both men were shot by the gunmen. Gerry’s friend was driving and managed to get to Louth County Hospital, where Gerry was pronounced dead. His son was uninjured.

Patrick Liam McNally, 20 – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Single

20th March 1981 – Killed when the UDR opened fire on a stolen car they were chasing. A corporal fired six shots when he believed Patrick was aiming a pistol at him. The RUC later stated that they did not find a pistol in the car, at the scene, or in the dead man’s possession.

John Smith, 25 – Central Belfast

UDR, Protestant, Single

27th March 1981 – Murdered by an IRA gunman as he walked to work along Cromac Road near the city centre. He was a part-time member of the UDR and his life had been threatened a few weeks before his murder.

Paul Blake, 26 – North Belfast

Civilian, Catholic Single

27th March 1981 – Murdered by a UDA/UFF gunman as he walked along Berwick Road. The gunman fired from a moving car. The attack was a retaliation for the INLA assassination attempt on councillor Sammy Millar. Two men were given life sentences for this sectarian murder.

Kenneth J. Acheson, 23 – Bessbrook, Armagh

RUC, Protestant, Married with one child

2nd April 1981 – Murdered by an IRA bomb planted underneath his car as he left Bessbrook police station. Constable Acheson was described as being “conscientious about his duties” having joined the RUC to help protect his fellow man.

Joanne Mathers, 29 – Londonderry City

Civilian (Census Worker), Protestant, Married with one child

7th April 1981 – Murdered by an IRA gunman as she was helping a resident fill in a census form in Anderson Crescent. The murder took place during the republican boycott of the 1981 census which was motivated by the Hunger Strikes in the H-Blocks.

Jack Donnelly, 56 – Moy, Tyrone

UDR, Protestant, Single

16th April 1981 – Murdered by two INLA gunmen in Hughes Bar in Moy. He had been a member of the UDR since its formation and was part of the South Tyrone Unionist Association. The murder happened a week after the election of IRA Hunger Striker Bobby Sands.

James Gary English, 19 – Londonderry City

Civilian, Catholic, Single

James William Brown, 18 – Londonderry City

Civilian, Catholic Single

19th April 1981 – Both teenagers were killed when an Army Land Rover ploughed into a crowd of rioters in Londonderry City. The circumstances around the incident are disputed and the two soldiers in the vehicle were charged with reckless driving causing deaths, but were acquitted at trial.

John Robinson, 36 – Armagh City

Civilian, Protestant, Married

23rd April 1981 – Murdered by IRA gunmen as he left workmates home outside Armagh city. He had retired from the UDR seven years prior. The murder was condemned by all sides of the community including the Roman Catholic Primate Cardinal Ó Fiaich.

Paul Whitters, 15 – Londonderry City

Schoolboy, Catholic

25th April 1981 – Fatally injured by a plastic bullet fired by the RUC during rioting in Londonderry City. He was from Belview Avenue in the Bogside. He was part of a group of young people who were believed to be trying to get into a business complex and take a lorry. Local witnesses claim that the plastic bullet was fired at five yards, but the RUC stated it was fired at a range of 20-25 yards.

Gary Martin, 28 – West Belfast RUC, Protestant

Married with two children

27th April 1981 – Murdered by an INLA booby-trap bomb while examining a suspect lorry on the Shaw’s Road. Two other officers were seriously injured by the explosion. Constable Martin had searched the vehicle and, finding it was empty, offered to drive the lorry away. When he put his hand on the driver’s seat, he activated the tilt-switch and triggered the device.

Richard W.J. McKee, 27 – Castlewellan, Down

UDR, Protestant, Single

28th April 1981 – Murdered by in an IRA ambush as his patrol travelled to Castlewellan by van. The IRA fired on the van from Burren Bridge, killing Lance-Corporal McKee instantly.

Philip C. Ellis, 33 – North Belfast

RUC, Protestant, Married

6th May 1981 – Murdered by the IRA as he stood guard at the barrier of the peaceline between New Lodge and Tiger Bay. The gunman opened fire on Constable Ellis from the New Lodge area. Police had been there most of the day to prevent clashes between the rival factions in the area following the death of IRA Hunger Striker Bobby Sands. A policewoman and nine-year-old boy were injured by the gunfire.

Desmond Guiney, 14 – North Belfast

Schoolboy, Protestant

Eric Guiney, 45 – North Belfast

Civilian, Protestant, Married with four children

7th May 1981 – Desmond was killed after a mob stoned his father’s milk lorry during the riots on New Lodge Road following the death of IRA Hunger Striker Bobby Sands. The stoning caused his father to lose control of the van and crash into a lamppost. Desmond died at the site of the crash and his father, Eric, was transferred to hospital.

13th May 1981 – Eric dies due to injuries sustained when a mob stoned his milk lorry on New Lodge Road.

Samuel Vallely, 23 – West Belfast

RUC, Protestant, Married with one child

14th May 1981 – Murdered in an IRA rocket attack on his RUC Land Rover as he travelled through the New Barnsley area of West Belfast. He was planning to emigrate to Canada following the birth of his first child.

Patrick Martin, 38 – North Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Married with one child

16th May 1981 – Murdered by the UDA/UFF in his home on the Crumlin Road. The UDA claimed he was murdered because he was seen at the funeral of the IRA Hunger Striker Bobby Sands. Many of his Protestant neighbours attended his funeral in Ardoyne’s Holy Cross Church.

John King, 20 – Armagh

Paul Bulman, 19 – Armagh

Andrew Gavin, 19 – Armagh

Michael E. Bagshaw, 24 – Armagh

Grenville Winstone, 27 – Armagh

Soldiers (BA), Royal Green Jackets Regiment

19th May 1981 – Murdered when a 1,000lb landmine exploded underneath the Saracen they were traveling in. The attack happened three miles from Camlough in South Armagh, hometown of the Hunger Striker Raymond McCreesh.

Michael O’Neill, 35 – Down

Soldier (BA), Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Married with two children

31st May 1981 – Murdered when an IRA bomb exploded in a car he was examining. Warrant Officer O’Neill had to approach the vehicle after the bomb disposal robot broke down.

Colin Dunlop, 30 – West Belfast

RUC Reserve, Mormon, Married with four children

31st May 1981 – Murdered by IRA gunmen as he guarded a patient in the Royal Victoria Hospital. Two men and a woman had approached Reserve Constable Dunlop before opening fire on him.

Joseph Lynn, 60 – Londonderry city

Civilian, Catholic, Married with children

3rd June 1981 – Murdered by the IRA during a gun battle with the British Army. Joseph was killed by a shot that missed a soldier near Central drive in the Creggan Estate.

Thomas Ronald Graham, 39 – Fermanagh

UDR, Protestant, Married with three children

5th June 1981 – Murdered by the IRA as he delivered coal to a house near Derryard Quay outside Lisnaskea. A 13-year-old boy had helped the IRA move the weapons used in the murder. Ronnie was a Lance-Corporal and the first of three brothers to be murdered by the IRA.

Christopher Kyle, 25 – Beragh, Carrickmore, Tyrone

RUC Reserve, Protestant, Single

17th June 1981 – Murdered by an IRA gunman outside his house as he returned from work around 5:35pm. His father found him wounded not far from the family home. He died in Tyrone County Hospital a few hours later.

Neal Quinn, 53 – Newry, Down

RUC, Catholic, Married with three children

20th June 1981 – Murdered by the IRA while having a lunchtime drink in the Bridge Bar. He was off duty when he was murdered.

Vincent Robinson, 29 – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Married with two children

26th June 1981 – Murdered by the IRA who claimed he was an informer. The RUC denied he had ever given them evidence and Father Denis Faul suggested that there were ulterior motives for the murder.

Danny McIlhone – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic.

1st July 1981 – One of “the Disappeared”. The IRA stated he had been killed because he stole weapons from them.

Nora McCabe, 33 – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Married with three children

9th July 1981 – Fatally injured by an RUC plastic bullet on the corner of Linden Street and the Falls Road. The bullet struck her on the back of the head, fracturing her skull.

Daniel Barrett, 15 – North Belfast

Schoolboy, Catholic

9th July 1981 – Shot dead by a British Army Soldier in an observation post as he sat on a wall outside his home. Before the shooting a gunman had fired shots at an RUC Land Rover. The soldier believed he had seen Daniel holding a rifle before he opened fire. The RUC found no traces of the weapon near him and a “supergrass” later identified the OC of the Ardoyne IRA as the person who fired on the RUC.

Hugh O’Neill, 21 – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic

10th July 1981 – Accidentally shot dead by his best friend who was showing off an INLA weapon he had found on the street near his home.

George Joseph Hall, 28 – North Belfast

Civilian, Protestant, Single

12th July 1981 – Murdered by republicans near his home at Crumlin Gardens. He was stabbed to death.

Robert Campbell, 40 – West Belfast

Civilian, Protestant, Married with five children

15th July 1981 – Murdered by republicans outside his home in Forthriver Drive.

Gavin Dean, 21 – South Armagh

Solider, Royal Green Jackets

17th July 1981 – Murdered by the IRA when they opened fire on his patrol near the border at Glassdrummond. The gunmen fired from the Republic of Ireland.

John Hazlett, 43 – Maghera, Londonderry

Civilian, Protestant, Married with two children

21st July 1981 – Murdered by the IRA outside a shop he was helping renovate in the town of Maghera. The RUC believed that John had been mistaken for a former UDR man who had also been working on the shop.

Peter Doherty, 33 – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Co-habiting

31st July 1981 – Died in hospital from injures received on 24 th July 1981 when he was struck by a plastic bullet fired by a Royal Marine on the Falls Road.

Thomas Harpur, 30 – Strabane, Tyrone

Civilian, Protestant, Married with one child

31st July 1981 – Murdered by the IRA while visiting a home in a nationalist estate in Strabane. He resigned from the RUC three years previous.

John Smyth, 34 – Tyrone

RUC, Protestant, Married with three children

Andrew Alfred Woods – Tyrone

RUC, Protestant, Married with six children

2nd August 1981 – Both constables were murdered by an IRA Landmine that exploded underneath their patrol car near Loughmacrory near Omagh. Officers travelling in front of Constables Smyth and Woods saw men running away from the scene and fired shots at them.

Liam Arthur Canning, 19 – North Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Single

9th August 1981 – Murdered by an off-duty UDR man as he walked his girlfriend home along Alliance Avenue. The UDR man is believed to have carried out a series of shootings during the riots on Alliance Avenue.

Peter McGuinness, 41 – North Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Married with five children

9th August 1981 – Fatally injured when a plastic bullet fired by the RUC struck him in the chest. Peter was caught up in the disturbance on the Shore Road and was trying to get the rioters to get away from his home when he was hit by the bullet.

Charles Johnston, 45 – North Belfast

Civilian, Protestant, Married with two children

11 th August 1981 – Murdered by the IRA near St Anne’s Cathedral. The gunman fled the scene on a motorcycle. An elderly couple and their granddaughter were held hostage overnight as the gunmen prepared for the attack.

Charles Armstrong, 57 – Armagh

Civilian, Catholic, Married with five children

16th August 1981 – Abducted and murdered after he left his house at 10am on a Sunday morning. His family believe he was abducted by the IRA, however he did not appear on the list the Provisionals released in March 1999.

Sohan Singh Virdee, 20 – South Belfast

Soldier, Royal Pioneer Corps, Single

5th September 1981 – Murdered by the IRA after he and a colleague were lured by two women they met in a bar into a flat in Stranmillis. The IRA burst into the flat and opened fire on the soldiers before fleeing.

Mark Evans, 20 – Cappagh, Tyrone

RUC, Protestant, Single

Stuart John Montgomery, 19 – Cappagh, Tyrone

RUC, Protestant, Single

7th September 1981 – Murdered when an IRA landmine exploded underneath their patrol car as they went to investigate a forest fire. Both Constables died instantly.

Alan Clarke, 20 – Maghera, Londonderry

UDR, Protestant, Single

12th September 1981 – Murdered by an IRA gunman as he walked down Hall Street in Maghera on a Saturday afternoon. The gunman fired the fatal shot from a car and fled the scene.

John Proctor, 25 – Magherafelt, Londonderry

RUC Reserve, Protestant, Married with two children

14th September 1981 – Murdered by an IRA gunman in the car park of the Mid-Ulster Hospital in Margherafelt. He had just been visiting his wife and new-born baby boy.

Eugene Mulholland, 25 – South Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Married with two children

19th September 1981 – Murdered by the UVF as he walked home along the Ormeau Road. The gunmen fired three shot from a car and fled the scene. The gunmen had intended to shoot a man they believed was a member of the IRA on Dehli Street, but left due to the police presence and decided to see if they could kill any Roman Catholics on the Ormeau Road instead.

George A. Stewart, 34 – Killough, Down

RUC, Protestant, Engaged

26th September 1981 – Murdered by the IRA shortly after closing time in a pub owned by his fiancé. He was shot at close range.

David Smyth, 24 – Greenisland, Antrim

Civilian, Protestant, Married with one child

26th September 1981 – Murdered by loyalists when they attempted to take a legally held pistol from a UDR soldier he had been drinking with. The UVF were linked to the murder.

Anthony Braniff, 27 – West Belfast

Civilian, Catholic, Married

27th September 1981 – Murdered by the IRA as an alleged informer. His body was found on Odessa Street.

Alexander Beck, 37 – West Belfast

RUC, Protestant, Married with two children

28th September 1981 – Murdered in an IRA rocket attack on his RUC Land Rover on the Suffolk Road. Constable Beck was killed instantly and his passenger was seriously injured.

Mark A. Stockman, 20 – West Belfast

UDR, Protestant, Single

29th September 1981 – Murdered by an INLA gunman during his lunch break at Mackies factory on the Springfield Road. Another factory worker was injured in the attack.