‘Martin Og Meehan: Like Father, Like Son?’ by Donal Lavery

People became accustomed over the years to Martin Meehan addressing a whole range of political issues which impact on Nationalists/Republicans in the North and on the wider island. He was a household name and a well-known face who always held an authoritative sway among the most determined republicans. Undoubtedly, a strong and principled leader who said what he meant and meant what he said – fully signing up the peace process. His son however, ‘Martin Og Meehan’, was really another story to be frank. A man who immatures with age and is the first to cry ‘treason most foul’ against past allies. Pitching himself as the ‘’guardian’’ of the republican conscience, Meehan had run-ins with many respected locals over the years, making him an ‘’EastEnders-like’’ figure in the area.

Having been for the peace process then against it (particularly after his father passed away), he was always a bit of a proverbial ‘’weather-cock’’, moving whatever direction he sensed the local wind was blowing. Or more so, towards those willing to take him. Without question, his rather dubious changes in attitude led him to be distrusted by many republicans (pro and anti-agreement) and he was often involved in some of the most bitter and heated arguments (particularly online) with his former comrades. A true ‘Keyboard Warrior’ of destiny. Meehan had been pertinent in a number of the dissident splinter groups, with perhaps the most obvious being GARC and the Republican Network for Unity – who unsuccessfully stood Sammy Cusick, against GARC Chairman Dee Fennell, in the last Local Government elections.

In 2010/2011, he was involved with GARC in blocking the road next to Ardoyne shops and causing enormous chaos for the Parades Commission/wider community, including a hefty policing bill. However, anyone who humorously follows the sordid world of ‘’dissident extremism’’, particularly in Ardoyne, now knows that Meehan has fallen on his own sword, so to speak. Perhaps the presence of Meehan and Dee Fennell in a small and largely irrelevant group like GARC was a case of ‘’big fish in a small pond’’, but regardless, it was a lasting and intense rivalry over who spoke for the small and dwindling pool of splinter group members in Ardoyne. Failing to agree to a joint candidate, Cusick and RNU (in MacBeth-type fashion) robbed Fennell of the prospect of a seat on Belfast City Council.

Notably, GARC and RNU apparently conducted an ‘’investigation’’ into alleged claims that Meehan was ‘’colluding with Loyalists’’ via online social media interactions. Upon reading this, any right-minded person really has to laugh at their own exaggerated sense of self-importance. Telling Loyalists how he disliked Mr. Fennell and how the majority of people in Ardoyne are indifferent towards Mr. Fennell’s rotten antics, hardly constitutes ‘’collusion’’, in the proper sense of the term – and is a bit of an insult to the many real victims of it. But it does reveal something both funny and stark about these ego-driven louts – They don’t even like each other, never mind support a common cause espoused by one another. They don’t metaphorically knife one another in the back when it comes to politics, they do it in the front!

Meehan has reportedly not been seen or heard from by locals in Ardoyne for quite some time, as a result of Fennell’s self-awarded vigilante coronation for the area; having fled for his life after refusing to provide his ‘’comrades’’ with his child’s laptop, to scrutinise his apparent internet alliances. Thankfully, I don’t suspect the locals in North Belfast will hear from the frightened Meehan again, particularly after the appalling murder of a well-liked local taxi driver – which highlights how dangerous and ruthless some of these dissidents actually are. But what it does go to show is how paranoia and distrust run rife therein, with community ‘’hard-man’’ status being the actual objective, as opposed to any long-term aims for constitutional change or national reconciliation. Needless to say, I think most people will wish Martin ‘Og’ well, in his retirement from ‘’revolutionary republican/community activism. Good riddance!