Anti H-Block
Anti H-Block was the political label used in 1981 by supporters of the Irish republican hunger strike who were standing for election in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. "H-Block" was a metonym for the Maze Prison, within whose H-shaped blocks the hunger strike was taking place.
Bobby Sands, the first of these hunger strikers, was nominated in the Westminster April 1981 by-election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. After his victory and death, the Representation of the People Act was passed to prevent convicted prisoners serving sentences of more than one year from standing for Parliament in the United Kingdom, so Owen Carron, Sands' agent, stood as an "Anti-H-Block Proxy Political Prisoner" and won the seat in the subsequent by-election in August.
In the Republic of Ireland's general election in June 1981 twelve candidates ran under the Anti H-Block banner, nine of whom were prisoners. Kieran Doherty and Paddy Agnew won seats in Cavan–Monaghan and Louth respectively, while both Joe McDonnell and Martin Hurson narrowly missed election in Sligo–Leitrim and Longford–Westmeath. Eamonn Sweeney noted that:
The successes of the Anti H-Block movement galvanised the Irish republican movement, and led to the entry the following year into mainstream electoral politics of Sinn Féin.
Candidates in the 1981 Irish general election
Nine candidates were officially endorsed by the Anti H-Block committee, eight of which were imprisoned at the time.Candidates:
Denotes candidates elected to Dáil Éireann
| Constituency | Candidate | Paramilitary and political affiliation | 1st Pref. votes | % | Notes |
| Cavan–Monaghan | Kieran Doherty | Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin | 9,121 | 15.10 | Elected on the fourth count |
| Clare | Tom McAllister | INLA – Irish Republican Socialist Party | 2,120 | 4.68 | |
| Cork North-Central | Mairéad Farrell | Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin | 2,751 | 6.05 | |
| Dublin West | Anthony O'Hara | INLA – Irish Republican Socialist Party | 3,034 | 6.49 | Candidate was the brother of Patsy O'Hara |
| Kerry North | Seán McKenna | Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin | 3,860 | 11.26 | |
| Martin Hurson | Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin | 4,573 | 10.08 | Was not eliminated. Deemed not elected on last count | |
| Louth | Paddy Agnew | Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin | 8,368 | 18.29 | Topped the Poll |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Joe McDonnell | Provisional IRA – Sinn Féin | 5,639 | 11.82 | Eliminated on fourth count |
| Waterford | Kevin Lynch | INLA – Irish Republican Socialist Party | 3,337 | 7.63 |