When Bobby Sands died in the Maze prison on May 5, 1981, after a hunger strike that had lasted for sixty-six days, the British government’s Northern Ireland Office (NIO) compiled a list of reactions from around the world. New York City mayor Ed Koch urged Britain to withdraw from Northern Ireland, and the International Longshoremen’s Association announced a twenty-four-hour boycott of British ships entering US ports. Italy’s three union federations issued a statement in support of Sands. The Portuguese parliament observed a minute’s silence in his honor.

Other forms of protest were more turbulent and eclectic:

A balloon filled with tomato ketchup was thrown at the Queen during her visit to Oslo. A Dunlop warehouse in Toulouse was damaged by a bomb. A car showroom in Zurich which displayed British cars was fire-bombed and “Victory to the IRA” sprayed on the window. Firebombs were also thrown at car showrooms in Florence. A petrol bomb exploded at a British Forces cinema in Dusseldorf and pro-IRA slogans were painted outside the British Consulates in Hamburg and Hanover.