Michael Devine

Michael James Devine (; 26 May 1954 – 20 August 1981) was an Irish militant and Republican activist. He was a volunteer in the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), and the last hunger striker to die during the 1981 Irish hunger strike.

Background Devine, also known as Red Mickey because of his red hair, was born into a family from the Springtown Camp, Derry, Northern Ireland.

In 1960, when Devine was six years of age, the Devine family including his grandmother, sister Margaret and parents Patrick and Elizabeth, moved to the then newly built Creggan estate to the north of Derry city centre. Devine was educated at Holy Child Primary School and St. Joseph's Secondary School, both in the Creggan. In July 1971, soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment fired into a crowd of approximately 70 people stoning them, fatally wounding two civilians, Dessie Beattie and Seamus Cusack. After this incident, Devine joined the James Connolly branch of the Republican Clubs in Derry. The events of Bloody Sunday on 30 January 1972 had a deep impact on Devine.

Paramilitary activity Devine, through Republican Clubs, joined the Official IRA in 1971. He was charged with the theft of rifles, shotguns and possession of 3,000 rounds of ammunition. He joined the blanket protest before joining the hunger strike. being the tenth and last of the hunger strikers to die. The funeral took place two days later, on 22 August, in his native city of Derry. He was buried in a grave next to Patsy O'Hara, who died three months before. After the Requiem offered in St Mary's chapel, the funeral took place from Devine's sister's home, in Rathkeele Way, to the cemetery.