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Former IRA man 'Bik' McFarlane dies

Press Association McFarlane with short grey hair looks to the side as he wears a black suit jacket and a white shirt.Press Association
McFarlane was the leader of IRA prisoners in the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike

Former senior IRA man Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane has died.

In 1976, he was jailed for a gun and bomb attack on the Bayardo Bar on Belfast's Shankill Road, which killed five people and injured 60 others.

He was the leader of IRA prisoners in the Maze during the 1981 hunger strike, where he was serving five life sentences for murder.

McFarlane also led a mass escape of 38 inmates from the prison near Lisburn in 1983.

One prison officer died of a heart attack after being stabbed and six other officers were stabbed or shot during the escape.

He was later caught in Amsterdam and extradited to Northern Ireland along with fellow escapee, Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly.

On Friday, Kelly expressed condolences following the "sad passing of my friend and comrade", adding he was a "huge figure within republicanism".