In 1976, the British government removed the 'special category' status of paramilitary prisoners resulting in the loss of

[answerhappygod]

In 1976, the British government removed the 'special category'
status of paramilitary prisoners
resulting in the loss of "Prisoner of War" status of
captured Irish Catholic paramilitary personnel.
led to a series of hunger strikes by Catholic prisoners in Maze
Prison, leading to the deaths of 9 prisoners and of Bobby Sands
(who won a parliamentary seat after his death)
resulted in late 1981, Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing,
formally adopted a policy of contesting elections while also
supporting the continued use of violence to achieve its ends.
All of the above