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Bobby Sands PA Wire/Press Association Images

Could Ireland ever look at Bobby Sands in the same way as the heroes of the 1916 Rising?

TheJournal.ie has been speaking to Brendan J Byrne about his new film Bobby Sands: 66 Days

NEW FILM BOBBY Sands: 66 Days examines the hunger striker through his own words, drawing on a diary he kept during the early days of his protest.

The film looks to examine a man whose identity can seem to be overshadowed by his status as an icon.

“I made the film to try and understand a guy who was on a gable wall who I didn’t really know much about other than the image and the footage of the funeral,” director Brendan J Byrne tells TheJournal.ie. 

I thought, ‘if that’s all I know, what does anyone else know?’

HotDocsFest / YouTube

Since its release the film has been enthusiastically received since hitting cinemas earlier this week, with critics praising its balance.

While Sands is often held up as an iconic revolutionary internationally, the perception of the hunger strikers is often more complicated closer to home – especially south of the border.

In the centenary year of the 1916 Rising, how do the two events compare?

“I don’t know how the 50th anniversary of 1916 was celebrated,” says Byrne, reflecting on the difference.

If you were a historian and looked at the difference between how 1916 was commemorated in 1966 and in 2016, you might see a lot of important differences which I’m not fully qualified to articulate.

I think it would have been much more muted in 1966. I think there is a greater sense that 100 years later everyone can more collectively own that story. I think the hunger strike, I think that it’s still too early.

“It’s not too early to make a film, but it’s still too early for there to be a more general and kind of expansive way of recognising and perhaps marking their death,” says Byrne.

Bobby Sands: 66 Days is in cinemas now. 

Read: ‘They set out to cause serious injury’: 35 years since 200 were hospitalised in ‘the Battle of Merrion Street’

Also: Britain’s new Shadow Chancellor has apologised for saying IRA members should be “honoured”

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184 Comments
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    Mute Graham Dunne
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:52 PM

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_current_account_balance

    If you look at the list on that Wiki page (a few years old, but still) you can see that few countries have surpluses without having major amounts of natural resources. In fact, there are only three countries in the top 15 that don’t have huge amounts of oil and gas: China, Germany and Ireland.

    We have always boxed above our weight.

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    Mute Owl Mick
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:37 PM

    Excellent! let’s build on this achievement

    52
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    Mute Ignoreland
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:44 PM

    Just waiting for somebody to comment on this story now and say that’s it’s all spin and lies and that we shouldn’t believe it ….

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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Apr 15th 2014, 12:16 AM

    I stopped even replying to those posting everything is negative comments,it just gets so boring.

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    Mute Aaron Gregory
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:48 PM

    This is all spin and lies….not to be believed

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    Mute Ignoreland
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:49 PM

    Yay! I wasn’t waiting too long.

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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:34 PM

    Who knew pot pourri could be worth so much ?

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    Mute Pickart Solny
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    Apr 14th 2014, 6:56 PM

    Does this take into consideration the amount of our people that have fled the country; the long term effects of the famine or the aftermath of the flight of the earls in 1607. This government is trying to brush these events under the carpet with more spin.

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    Mute ipsum oleum
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    Apr 14th 2014, 7:49 PM

    Trying to brush stuff under the carpet with more spin has only one solution…a Dyson

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    Mute Pickart Solny
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    Apr 14th 2014, 8:13 PM

    Excellent.

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    Mute Trevor W
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    Apr 14th 2014, 10:38 PM

    Nice to see some good news among all the corruption and crime for a change.

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    Mute Prince of Burren
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    Apr 14th 2014, 7:56 PM

    Don’t forget theEamonn O Loghlin Immigration Centre in Toronto where they help 50 or so youngsters who have to leave this country for work every day.There is a lot of spin going on, however it is good to hear good news.

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    Mute Pickart Solny
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    Apr 14th 2014, 8:28 PM

    Toronto is a long way to go to work each day, although the traffic on the way home is not as bad as in the morning.

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    Mute Fergal Reid
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    Apr 14th 2014, 9:08 PM

    The jet stream really helps with the commute.

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