I was browsing Memory Alpha's pages on the UK Star Trek magazine today; I noticed that there are several mentions of Colm Meaney leaving DS9; apparently Rene Auberjonois even announced it at a convention! http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Monthly_issue_34
I don't know anything about that. I do know Colm managed to keep acting in movies and elsewhere all through the run of DS9. Maybe there was a case of another job running into the DS9 schedule and there were conflicts that ultimately worked out okay.
I actually remember this! I remember during the summer between season 5 and season 6 there was rumors that Colm wanted out and that his character would be killed off during the start of the Dominion War arc. I do know that at some point during his years on the show, Colm managed to get his contract renegotiated to allow him time off to film movies.
I alwasy heard they brougt in Eddington sub for him so he could go act in moives. thats why eddington was chief engineer in the dax\kahn ep
Wasn't that the case from the very start - i.e., he only agreed to do DS9 at all if he had time off to do Other Things? Definitely, that was the reason they brought Eddington in, to have a "spare" regular for when Meaney wasn't available.
I do remember on one of the old Spoiler sites the headline "Colm Meaney Sabotages Deep Space Nine!" I think he was doing a movie and filming went longer than expected. I watched "A Time to Stand" recently, remembering that, and it looks like they may have filmed around him in some scenes. The opening scene on the Defiant bridge for example, they never do a wide master shot of the bridge, only closer shots of individual characters.