Republicans are holding a series of events to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands.
The Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams, and senior members of the party are among those taking part at ceremonies in several parts of Northern Ireland as well as in Dublin, Meath, Louth and Cork.
Bobby Sands was on day 66 of a hunger strike at the Maze Prison when he died. The 27-year-old IRA member was serving a 14-year sentence.
In the four months after his death, nine more prisoners died following hunger strikes.
Michelle Gildernew, Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, was part of a small Sinn Féin group that spent an hour in a private visit to the former jail outside Belfast this morning.
They observed a minute's silence in each of the ten cells.
They held a commemoration in the former hospital wing where one of the group read from Bobby Sands' writings.
None of Mr Sands's family members were present.
Sinn Féin's Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness said afterwards they had remembered everyone who had lost their lives as a result of conflict in the North.
He praised the contribution of the hunger strikers who he said had changed the course of Irish history for the better.
He also hoped people could learn from the mistakes of the past so they would never again see a return to conflict and violence.
Fraught period
The hunger strikers were campaigning for special-category status, pushing the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to recognise them as political prisoners.
It was one of the most fraught periods of the Troubles. A month before his death, Bobby Sands was elected an MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone and Sinn Féin was launched.
Bernadette Sands-McKevitt, a sister of Bobby Sands, often accuses Sinn Féin of selling out the ideals her brother died for.
Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane, who was in charge (OC) of the IRA prisoners at the time of the hunger strike, recalled painful memories of the summer of 1981.
Mr McFarlane also dismissed recent claims that the hunger strikers were exploited by the republican leadership and that lives could have been saved by ending the protest earlier.
He said: 'It is reprehensible and despicable, the nature of the allegations that were made.
'What needs to be borne out and what needs to be looked at very closely is that the leadership of the republican struggle were totally opposed to the hunger strike action from the outset of the first hunger strike, and when we broached the idea of the second hunger strike they were vehemently opposed to hunger strike action.
'After the hunger strike had been embarked upon, we received full support from people on the outside, from the (IRA), Army Council and the political leadership of the political struggle.'
Unionists criticise commemorations
The Ulster Unionists and the DUP have criticised the Sinn Féin commemoration of the hunger strikers at the former Maze prison.
DUP MP for North Belfast Nigel Dodds said that the republican movement has, by again trying to glorify the hunger strikers, added further insult to the injury felt by the victims of IRA terror.
