He organized a tenants association; a social club dedicated to Irish culture and started a newsletter for the Catholic community. In late 1976, Bobby was arrested again. There was a bomb attack on the Balmoral Furniture at Dunmurry, followed by a gun attack where two men were wounded. Bobby was in a car near the scene with three other men. The RUC captured them and found a revolver in the car. They could not link the men to the bombing, but they were charged with possession of the revolver. All were convicted and sentenced to 14 years at Long Kesh prison. Bobby spent the first 22 days of his sentence in solitary confinement. Then they brought him to the H-Block cells where he and his fellow IRA prisoners were held. He immediately joined in their blanket protest. The protest was formed so that the prisoners could achieve Prisoner of War status. The blanket protesters refused to wear any prison clothes, but only the blanket from their beds. However, their protests were unsuccessful. They were not able to wash, shave, exercise or leave their cells. Soon, the toilets were removed and the men were forced to pour their excrement out the window. Finally, the prison blocked the windows, so they were forced to wipe it on the walls. The conditions that these men lived were unbearable, and this is how Bobby spent the rest of his life. On October 21, 1980, talks between Humphrey Atkins, the direct British ruler in the North, and Cardinal O"Fiaich, the Catholic leader of Ireland, broke down about the IRA prisoners receiving POW status. Seven prisoners that day began a hunger strike, onel by Brendan Hughes, the leader of the IRA prisoners. After 53 days, the British government seemingly gave in and was willing to grant the prisoners POW status. The prisoners rejoiced, but after Christmas, they realized that it was all a lie and things went back to the way they were at Long Kesh. The prisoners had had enough of the British lies.