Several hundred gathered on the streets of Ballymurphy just a few short weeks ago as we laid to rest our Comrade and founding member of Lasair Dhearg Dannielle Meighan.
The following text is the oration delivered at her final resting place in Milltown Cemetery, Belfast, by Cathaoirleach Lasair Dhearg Pól Torbóid, which we release today to mark one month since her passing.
I want to start off here, with a few acknowledgements. On behalf of the family i just want to extend a thank you to all those who, over recent days, supported them in many different ways, from the local businesses that sent up food, the local community, all those who lent a helping hand, to O’Neill’s funeral directors for their care and guidance, as well as those that opened up the ground here today, and to the many people who called to the family home to express their condolences. Your support has not gone unnoticed.
It was with great shock that I found out in recent days that Dannielle had passed away. I knew she was very unwell, that she had been in and out of hospital over previous weeks. But like many, I really didn’t expect to hear the news last week. I’d spoken to her a number of days previous to make arrangements to pay her a visit, but that unfortunately never came to be.
I can’t tell you the very first time that I met her, I do however, remember my first impression of her some thirteen or more years ago. I thought she was loud and very straightforward. She was assertive. And often told you what she thought, whether you liked it or not, and she seemed to take everything in her stride, with plenty of time for crack and banter.
Over the years, as we spent more and more time together, taking part in different types of activism, I got to really know her. And beneath that sometimes hard and upfront exterior, I found that she was someone who cared deeply about many things, and indeed, many people. She had a big heart, and there was plenty of space within it for everyone she met.
There was also a side to Dannielle that I learned to like the most, and which I think can only be described as ‘a streak of madness’. She was up for absolutely anything. Politically speaking, if something cheeky was being organised, or something that could end with an arrest, she was one of those people, who just would not hesitate. And if a good laugh could be had along the way then all the better.
Speaking to members of her family over recent days, it was evident that this streak of madness wasn’t just reserved for the political arena. Many stories were recounted. I was told that on one occasion, Dannielles sisters, Niamh and Bronagh, informed Dannielle that they were starving. And never one to miss an opportunity, Dannielle told them that she would buy a peppered chip, but that they would have to fight each other to see who would get it.
I was also told that, many years ago, Dannielle got a job in the Celtic store in town. And within weeks of her employment she had turned it into a pound shop. Rumour had it that if she knew your face you could buy a full celtic kit for less than two quid.
Alongside her philanthropy in the Celtic store, she also worked within the community and youth sector, and was well known amongst the youth of Poleglass and surrounding areas. She enjoyed this work for almost twenty five years.
Any time you were out in the Colin area with her, putting posters around shops, or leafleting doors, you were almost always guaranteed to witness the admiration that many of the local youths had for her.
Her partner Mark, who she was due to marry in December of this year, recounted in recent days, that not long after he first met her, they were walking through the Poleglass area, when they were approached by a small crowd of youngsters. Mark could see that she was clearly a very popular figure. The kids remarked that they thought she was brilliant. When asked why, they said, “she taught us how to make petrol bombs.”
Rumour has it that many years ago, a daring plan was hatched by herself and a number of comrades intent on making a political point, but also having a good laugh.
On a dark night in May of 2014, the Andersonstown headquarters of a well-known political organisation was paid a visit. It is alleged that the front railing of this well known house was scaled, and a tricolour on the flagpole in the front garden was removed for safe-keeping. In its place I am told, they left a union jack, hoisted high above the Andersonstown road.
Moments later, as Dannielle and a few others sat hidden in a car nearby watching, three well-known individuals emerged from a local well-known bar and spotted the offending article fluttering high in the wind. A good laugh was had as all three fought each other to climb over the railing and take it down.
All these stories, and more, were the hallmarks of Dannielle’s character.
Yes, she was always up for a laugh, but there was also a very serious side to her.
Across Belfast, and indeed Ireland, many political activists held her in high regard. She could always be found at the forefront of many campaigns and commemorative events, driving things forward with enthusiasm, and was well-known and well-liked by many.
She was thought of highly enough, that a number of political organisations from across the country released short statements of acknowledgement following her passing. These included the 1916 Societies, Anti-Imperialist Action Ireland, Saoradh & the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, Aontacht, Independent Dublin Republicans, and more.
And I want everyone to know the critical role she played in her own organisation, Lasair Dhearg. For she was a member of our Movement from its inception, and played a crucial role in developing the firm foundations upon which we set out to build our organisation.
She was heavily involved in a number of core projects that we set out to create during different periods of our development. During the Covid crisis, as we formed Community Defence Committees across local areas in West Belfast, she delivered hundreds of food parcels over many months to doors across Lenadoon, Poleglass and beyond, helping those in need, or who couldn’t get out to local shops.
She helped win gas heating for the residents of Carrigart flats after a long and arduous campaign which ended in defeat for the housing executive and victory for the residents.
Almost two years ago, Dannielle helped make headlines across most well-known news outlets across Ireland, and particularly here in the Six Counties, when she was among the scores of activists who descended upon the lough erne resort in co fermanagh.
A large convoy consisting of a mini bus and many cars arrived at the hotel to meet the fascist National Party as they held their yearly meeting. The intentions of the convoy were clear – no platform for fascists – racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant neo-Nazi’s would not be allowed to openly organise in Ireland.
For those that were there, what happened that day will be remembered for many years to come – ten minutes of mayhem – which continued out to the car park of the hotel. And there amongst it all, was Dannielle, who added to the highlights of the day when she dived through the passenger window of a comrades car and grabbed the handbrake as it rolled down a hill in the middle of the hand to hand fighting.
She did not hesitate.
For the past year she was a member of our Belfast Officer board, helping to drive our project forward by playing a central role in our largest branch. A branch that she helped to build from the ground up since it was formed in 2020.
Many will know, that at many Lasair Dhearg commemorations, Dannielle led the Colour Party, giving orders and drilling discipline into our activists, and she was always willing to go that little bit further to make sure everyone knew their place and were confident and comfortable.
On her passing, many of our members have remarked on the small occasions, where Dannielle had gone out of her way to make sure that others were cared for, felt comfortable, were not alone, or that they had things that they needed during difficult times.
To Danielle’s wider family, to her many brothers and sisters, her mother, her late father, her partner Mark, and especially her children, Gemma, Paul and Ruby, I want you all to know that you have a lot to be proud of.
Having stood beside Dannielle on many campaigns, protests or pickets, over this past decade and more, I can say without any fear of contradiction, that my comrades and I are proud to have marched alongside her.
And I think that it is very fitting that her comrades got to march alongside her one last time, and to bring her here, of all places, to Milltown Cemetery. For it was amongst these graves, and along these paths that she drilled them for many years, calling out orders across the headstones, as she made the necessary preparations for our upcoming commemorations.
And I just want to finish by saying, that we will always remember her for what she was.
She was a daughter, a sister, a partner, and a mother.
She was a friend and a comrade.
She was an anti fascist.
She was a Socialist and a Republican.
Her final resting place will be here in Milltown Cemetery, amongst other great Republican women like Winifred Carney, Mairead Farrell and, of course, Máire Drumm, who once said that, “The only people worthy of freedom are those who are prepared to go out and fight for it…”
And it can be said without any doubt, that Dannielle was worthy of that freedom.
