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Kieran Nugent (12th September 1958 - 3rd May 2000) was an Irishvolunteer in theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and best known for being the first IRA 'blanket man' in theMaze Prison inNorthern Ireland. When sentenced to three years forhijacking a bus, Nugent refused to wear aprison uniform and said the prison guards would have to "...nail it to my back".[1][2]
Nugent was an adolescent in Northern Ireland during the most intense years ofthe Troubles. On 20 March 1973, aged 15, he was standing with a friend on the corner of Merrion Street and Grosvenor Road,West Belfast, when a car pulled up beside them and one of the occupants asked them for directions. Another occupant of the vehicle then opened fire with asubmachine gun. Nugent was seriously wounded after being shot eight times in the chest, arms and back by theloyalists in the car. His friend, Bernard McErlean, aged 16, was killed.[3][4]
At some point afterwards, Nugent joined the IRA. He was arrested, aged 16, by theBritish Army and spent five months on remand inCrumlin Road Prison,Belfast. When he was eventually tried, the case against him was withdrawn and he was released.
He became an active volunteer until his arrest andinternment, without trial, on 9 February 1975. He served nine months in Cage 4 ofLong Kesh Detention Centre in Northern Ireland, until 12 November 1975.
He was arrested and imprisoned again on 12 May 1976, for the hijacking of a bus.[5] On 14 September 1976 he was sentenced to three years, and returned to the same prison, which was renamed the Maze. He became the first republican prisoner convicted since the withdrawal ofSpecial Category Status for those convicted throughjuryless courts, due to theBritish policy of 'criminalisation', reintroduced that March.[6][7] Among other things, this change in policy meant convictedparamilitaries could no longer wear their own clothes. He refused to wear the uniform, declaring himself apolitical prisoner and not acriminal, beginning theblanket protest.[5]
He was soon joined byJackie McMullan, the next prisoner to wear a blanket instead of a uniform,[8] followed by six moreIrish republican prisoners from theBeechmount area of Belfast. ByChristmas 1976, the number of participants had risen to over forty prisoners. Most incoming republican prisoners emulated Nugent and this started five years of prison protests in pursuit ofpolitical status, which culminated in the1981 hunger strike and the death of seven IRA and threeIrish National Liberation Army prisoners.[9]
On 3 May 2000, Nugent died from aheart attack in hisAndersonstown, Belfast home surrounded by loved ones,[2] aged 42. He had four children, 10 grandchildren and just recently a great granddaughter.[2]