‘Fennell’s Last Stand’ by Donal Lavery

By now the world has witnessed the horrific footage of the verbal bile and abuse which Fr. Gary Donegan experienced on Saturday, led by none other than dissident republicanism’s very own Colonel Custer – Damian ‘Dee’ Fennell. Everyone I have spoken to has said how they feel shocked and outraged at this episode, culminating in a public reaction far worse than anything ever produced before by GARC members in all their prior controversies.

Fennell, who recently failed in having his ongoing prosecution nullified, for minutes (not seconds) looked as though he was ready to punch the well-respected local Clergyman after a dispute regarding the recent deal on parades. Surrounded by a mob of dissident protestors, he confronted Fr. Gary in a way which may raise eyebrows when his current gagging order, accepted from a British court, is evaluated in due course. It certainly seemed to me and anyone who watched that footage as though he instigated the episode and was the clear ring-leader of a less-than-amicable gathering of hostile locals and some disgruntled people who aren’t even from North Belfast, never mind Ardoyne.

I admire that brave priest: he stood his ground against that ‘rant’ (to be polite) and deserves the title of Reverend for the patience he displayed, because if it had been me I would have involved the police and held him to account legally for his behaviour. However, it makes you wonder what world Dee and his followers are living in that they think it acceptable and right to speak to other human beings like that, never mind a respected local cleric who is well regarded by the vast majority of Ardoyne and Greater Belfast. I know GARC complain about receiving no real funding from the state they so detest but would manners have cost you a thing?

When any priest comes to my house, he usually gets a cup of tea and a friendly chat about how things are in the community and parish. But something tells me there is a lot more behind this, an underlying desire for a publicity stunt, which has backfired tremendously on Fennell and his followers.

Recently, he was involved in establishing a “blood nationalist” dissident fringe party, ‘Saoradh’, which claims it has no interest in contesting elections – yet Fennell himself stood as a candidate in local government elections (albeit on a host of Westminster & Assembly issues) not so long ago. Of course, he was opposed in that election by the other dissident candidate and GARC affiliate, RNU’s Sammy Cusick. Tellingly, Saoradh and their party conference, if you would call it that, seemed more like a character assassination of Gerry Adams, than a discussion about policy and real issues. Attended by some of the proverbial ‘big whigs’ of the dissident splinter cells, it must have been an emotive time for the nay-sayer camp given it was so under subscribed.

Yes, the timing of all of this has been a political stalling tactic on the part GARC, who, fearing that they will lose their raison d’etre now that an agreement has been reached on the parading and Twaddell camp issue, let out an outburst of slow but sure irrelevance. Indeed, (and I write based on anecdotal evidence) anyone who challenges GARC at all tends to come up against a torrent of highly personal abuse and vilification of the most ugly kind – never proper discussion and debate on policy, ideas or realistic alternatives. They attack people with rhetoric and insults which even the most bitter loyalist would not have peddled. Notice, pointedly, how there is a clear lack of young people involved in their activities – why so? Because the youth can’t stand the sort of tense atmosphere which GARC want to regress us all back to. In a nutshell, they make the Drumcree stand-off seem as friendly as Strictly Come Dancing, and young people are simply not going to mortgage their futures voting for those who romanticise war as the first option and not the last. We are never going back to that!

But let’s be clear, this whole episode had nothing to do whatsoever with the content of the parading deal – GARC were always going to wholeheartedly oppose any sort of agreement at all, regardless of terms and conditions. From the day and hour GARC was formed they have been involved in a perceived coup d’etat for who apparently represents the good people of Ardoyne – the will of the mob or the leaders you elect to govern? They got their proverbial answer at the Council ballot box and now think they can throw their toys out of the metaphorical pram because they can’t stand the response. What exactly do they stand for, other than opposing all measures and attempts to bring the two communities together on areas of mutual benefit and reconciliation as a society?

In the wake of what happened in Ardoyne, including journalists being issued with death-threats and other betrayals of the community best interest, you should make your voice heard to your elected representatives and tell them unequivocally that you want regulation introduced to fine those who act against local neighbourhoods in such a disgraceful way. Your houses, spaces and neighbourhoods are being devalued financially on the property market over this sort of behaviour, so it impacts all of us and we all need to make the solution our business. Let your policy-makers know, via email or letter, that if the GARCs in our midst cannot respect other people with their conduct, then they can do so with their bank accounts. If these are the political geniuses who intend to liberate and emancipate the Irish nation, then most of north Belfast will be putting in for asylum!