AOH National President Jack Meehan

AOH National President Jack Meehan – May 2008

In just a few short weeks our elected delegates and alternates will be heading to New Orleans to meet once again in convention. As you are aware some of our top National Board positions will be sought by more than one candidate. One of those positions is that of National President of our Order. This will require the convention delegates to make some difficult decisions that will have a very significant impact on the future of our noble Order, not only for the ensuing two year term but for a long time to come.

Contrary to the opinion of some who have accused me of using this column as a "bully pulpit" to express only my own views, I have made every effort to use it as a vehicle to enlighten our membership on issues that face us as concerned Irish Catholic Americans and proud members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. This is, in my view, precisely what this column is meant to do.

At our 2006 National Convention in Boston, I was elected by acclamation to the highest office in our Order. I was given a mandate to lead our members in accordance with the teachings of the holy Catholic Church, our National Constitution, and the dictates of my own conscience. I would like our members to know that when I accepted that mandate, I also accepted and take very seriously the many responsibilities that go along with it and are not always universally popular.

In my acceptance speech in Boston, I outlined in detail my vision for our noble Order during my term as your National President. Judging from the many favorable responses that I received, the majority of our members were pleased with what they heard. Our first big challenge came immediately on the heels of the convention. We were invited to Washington to give testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in opposition to the acceptance of the infamous US/UK Extradition Treaty. Unfortunately, the cards were stacked against us and the treaty was accepted. However, some restrictions that were favorable to our point of view were included in the final draft.

We were also experiencing some internal problems at that time which proved to be both disheartening and time consuming. The following two major issues, I believe, were the cause of the present disagreement among some of your National Board officers. The first is that many of our members find it very difficult to understand why we cannot transmit our membership information from our Division Presidents and Financial Secretaries to the National Secretary’s office electronically. I could not begin to tell you how many calls and e-mails that I receive on a nearly daily basis asking for answers to this very significant and growing problem.

In response to these concerns, the Technology Update Committee was appointed to supply advice and assistance to the National Secretary’s office and to help them to computerize and modernize the practices currently in use by that office. This committee was appointed, not to make things difficult for the National Secretary, but rather to conform to the wishes of a growing number of our members who demand that computerization is implemented in the National Secretary’s office without further delay.

The second major issue developed as the result of a folk festival sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution on the National Mall in Washington over the Fourth of July holiday last year. I was contacted by our Hibernian Brothers in Washington who, along with representatives of other Irish American groups, were very rightfully upset that the infamous Orange Order would be appearing at a festival which was being promoted by the Smithsonian as an exhibit of the cultural differences in the North of Ireland today.

Several attempts to negotiate with the Smithsonian about invitations being extended to credible representatives of the Catholic Nationalist community in the North of Ireland to present their point of view, as opposed to that of the Orange Order, proved unsuccessful.
I was asked to lend my support to our Brothers in Washington. I immediately responded to their request because a.) it was the right thing to do and b.) it is my duty, as your National President, to lend my support to our members when requested to do so.

In response to a fair and unbiased article in the Washington Post and faced with the possibility of an informational picket, the Smithsonian agreed to extend an invitation to Dr. Michael Durkan of the St. Patrick’s Centre in Downpatrick, Co. Down. Thanks to Michael Durkan and the St. Patrick’s Centre, a much more fair and balanced exchange of ideas were presented to those attending the festival.

At the last minute, we learned that Martin McGuinness was scheduled to take part in the opening ceremony on the same stage as representatives of the bigoted, scurrilous, and murderous, Orange Order. I immediately contacted Sinn Fein to confirm that Martin McGuinness was, in fact, going to participate and to tell them that I thought that it was unconscionable for anybody associated with Sinn Fein to appear on the same stage as their arch enemies, the Orange Order, thereby lending legitimacy to their appearance at the festival. This is something that Sinn Fein, to their credit, had never done in Ireland. Why then, would they do it here in the United States of America.

The Orange Order’s participation was especially reprehensible to us, as Americans, because it took place in our Nation’s Capitol on the Fourth of July, a holiday that we have set aside to celebrate victory over the same religious prejudice and hatred that the Orange Order practices every day in Ireland. Not surprisingly, I was strongly criticized by some of our own members for taking that position. But, given the same set of circumstances, I would take the same position again in a heartbeat.

Let me be very clear and unambiguous when I say that I am an unrepentant supporter of a free and united 32 county Ireland whose destiny is determined only by her own people. The record shows that this is a position that I have held, defended, and been active in for the past 40 years. I have written dozens of newspaper articles and letters of support to Senators and members of Congress, and attended court hearings in support of A.O.H. members Malachy McAllister, Brian Pearson, and others who were being persecuted by our judicial system for their past association with the Republican Movement in Ireland. I recently wrote to President Bush asking him to use his considerable influence with the British government to hasten the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the turn over of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The fact that I disagreed with Martin McGuinness’s appearance at the folk festival in Washington, DC has no bearing, whatsoever, on my solidarity with Irish Republicans, or on our shared dream of a free and united Ireland. However, I cannot and will not allow myself to become so "copper fastened" to any political party in Ireland or the United States that I would be afraid to disagree with them about an issue on which I have very strong feelings. I have always firmly believed in giving credit when it is earned and criticism when it is warranted. The record clearly shows that I have publicly praised Sinn Fein on several occasions in the past, particularly involving issues related to the Good Friday Agreement, IRA disarmament, and policing and justice initiatives recommended by the Patten Commission. I will also not hesitate to express my disagreement with them, or any other political party, when I feel it is the right thing to do. Enough said.

I was privileged to have been invited to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Chicago and to see the famous Green River flowing right through the center of the Windy City. It was a most enjoyable weekend and I extend my very sincere thanks to my Chicago Hibernian Brothers for their kind invitation and their great Midwestern hospitality. On Monday March 17th, it was back to Boston for the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass at Holy Cross Cathedral celebrated by Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley and at which our Massachusetts Hibernian Brothers perform the ushering duties and assist Cardinal Sean in distributing shamrocks to those attending Mass.

The reception at my home Div. #14 in Watertown was terrific as usual. Many thanks are due to our members who rollout the red carpet to all on St. Patrick’s Day. Although my wife and I had been invited to attend a reception at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, DC, we were unable to attend due to a death in my family. The last official St. Patrick’s Day function for me was marching in the Holyoke MA. Parade on March 30th which is one of the largest and best attended parades in the country. I wish to thank the Holyoke Hibernians for their hospitality on that day.

Through the hard work and determination of our National Organizer Bob Mott and his Deputy Organizer Bill Berry, we have two more A.O.H. Divisions in the South. A few short months ago they organized and installed Division #1 in Birmingham, AL. And on March 27th, I traveled to Statesboro, GA to assist them in the installation of An Iolar Division #1 at Georgia Southern University. Twenty one young men and their Irish Studies Professor, Dr. Howard Keeley, a Dublin native became the most recent members of our noble Order. We were privileged to have Most Reverend Kevin Boland, Bishop of the Savannah Diocese as our honored guest at the installation which took place in the museum on the university grounds. In a word, it was a wonderful experience and Brothers Mott & Berry have the gratitude of our Order for another job very well done.

At the invitation of former NY State Assemblyman John Dearie and radio broadcaster Adrian Flannelly, I represented our National Board at an Irish American Presidential Candidates Forum in NY City on April 9th. Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton was the speaker and it was very gratifying to hear her very positive views on issues of importance to us as Irish American political activists. I thank John Dearie and Adrian Flannelly for inviting me and I look forward to attending similar programs with the other candidates.

I will be sending out a letter soon outlining my lengthy record of involvement as both an elected and appointed officer on every level of our noble Order. I respectfully request that you take a few minutes to read it and form your own opinion. Please remember Fr. Francis Crowley and Brother Ed Pauly who have recently passed away and their families in your prayers. We will miss them both.

As always, please don’t forget to put aside a few minutes each day to say a prayer for the safe return of the brave men and women of our American armed forces.

Jack Meehan, National President
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America