Aust, faster put on bed

Press, 29 August 1981, Page 8

Aust, faster put on bed

NZPA Sydney Sydney's Irish hunger striker, now in the twentyfirst day of his protest against the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland, was placed on a waterbed yesterday because of fears that his bones might begin to break through his skin..

Eamonn O’Connor, aged 28, is the only man in the world, apart from I.R.A. members in Northern Ireland's jVlaze Prison, to embark on a hunger strike this year in protest against the presence of British troops in the province. “Ned has lost three stone since he began the hunger strike and today was suffering from severe stomach cramps,” his personal spokesman, Neil O’Donnell said yesterday. The Acting Prime Minister

(Mr Doug Anthony) on Thurs-. day called on Mr O’Connor to end his hunger strike after talks with Mr O’Donnell and Michael Derkin, the president of the Irish Republican Association.

“Ned won't end his fast until Mr Fraser publicly calls on the British Government to withdraw its troops from Northern Ireland,” Mr O’Donnell, the president of the Sydney H-Block Committee, said. Earlier in the week Mr O’Connor said that he could continue his fast for 80 days “if necessary.”

His diet consists of an occasional pinch of salt coupled with vast quantities of mineral water while staying in a makeshift bedroom in the offices of the Irish National Association near Sydney’s Central Railway. He migrated to Australia from Ireland in 1972.