Mal O'Hara
Leader of Green Party Northern Ireland
Assumed office
15 August 2022
DeputyLesley Veronica
Preceded byClare Bailey
Deputy Leader of Green Party Northern Ireland
In office
9 March 2019 – 15 August 2022
LeaderClare Bailey
Preceded byTanya Jones
Succeeded byLesley Veronica
Member of Belfast City Council
In office
7 May 2019 – 18 May 2023
ConstituencyCastle
Personal details
Born (1979-07-28) 28 July 1979[1]
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political partyGreen Party
Alma materUniversity of Central England in Birmingham

Malachai O'Hara (born 28 July 1979) is a Northern Irish politician and activist who has been the Leader of the Green Party Northern Ireland since August 2022, and was Deputy Leader of the Green Party from 2019 to 2022.[2] O'Hara was a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle DEA from 2019, [3] until 2023.[4]

Early life

O'Hara was born in North Belfast. He attended St Malachy's College, and was classmates with John Finucane, who also later entered politics. Leaving school the same year the Good Friday Agreement was signed, he then attended the University of Central England in Birmingham.[5] Before entering politics, O'Hara worked as a community worker in loyalist areas, delivered European Union peace funding programmes and managed health initiatives for the Rainbow Project, Ireland's biggest LGBT organisation. While working for the Rainbow Project he was vice-chair of the Equal Marriage Campaign, contributing to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.[6]

O'Hara is the founder of Alternative Queer Ulster, an evening event that brings LGBTQ people into the Northern Ireland Assembly, a place often considered "a cold house to the LGBTQ community".[7]

Political career

O'Hara joined the Green Party in 2014.[2] He was elected to Belfast City Council in 2019 for the Castle area, in an election where the Greens quadrupled their seats on the council, moving from 1 seat to 4.[8] O'Hara became the first Green Party councillor to be elected in North Belfast. During his term of office, he was one of the few openly LGBTQ+ elected members on the council.[9]

On the council, O'Hara had been a prominent campaigner for clean air, rent controls and climate action.[10][11][12] He has called for a citizens' assembly to examine if drugs should be legalised in Northern Ireland, citing increasing drug deaths as evidence that Northern Ireland's current approach is "obviously not working."[13]

O'Hara was a candidate for the Green Party in the Belfast North constituency for the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly Election where he received 711 first preference votes, a 1.7% share of the vote.[14] He was a candidate in Belfast North in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election receiving 1446 first preference votes thereby increasing his share of the vote to 3.1%.[15][16]

O'Hara became the leader of the Green Party Northern Ireland on 15 August 2022, following a leadership election in which he was the only candidate.[17] He was the first openly gay leader of a major party in Northern Ireland.[18]

At the 2023 Northern Ireland local elections, O'Hara lost his seat.[19]

Personal life

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Hara led a group of over 70 volunteers who set up a cross community soup-kitchen to deliver over 17,000 meals to vulnerable people across North and West Belfast.[20][21]

References

  1. ↑ O'Hara, Mal [@oharamal] (28 July 2020). "41 today! How the heck did that happy . So birthday dinner treat from my beau after 6 hour planning meetings. #stillaleo #postlockdownhair" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 Scott, Sarah (10 March 2019). "Meet the new Deputy Leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland". BelfastLive. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  3. ↑ Ferguson, Amanda (5 May 2019). "DUP gains seats, but Sinn Féin keeps top spot in Belfast City Council". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "Green Party Northern Ireland leader loses seat on Belfast City Council". Shropshire Star. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. ↑ "North Belfast school friends battle it out in election". BBC News. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  6. ↑ Avila, Michael (21 April 2020). "Community voices: "My experience in the grassroots is my motivation for getting anything done in politics"". Northern Slant. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Colhoun, Ciara (23 June 2018). "LGBTQ community to take over Stormont for one night only". BelfastLive. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  8. ↑ "Green Party gains show Northern Ireland voters want to step away from 'them and us politics'". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  9. ↑ Kerlin, Damian (31 July 2021). "LGBTQ+: Thirty years of Belfast Pride". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Ambitious climate change initiative launched in Belfast". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "Demand for rent to be capped in Belfast following house price rise". News Letter. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  12. ↑ McConville, Mark (27 January 2020). "Air quality link to 178 deaths in Belfast in single year". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  13. ↑ Hughes, Brendan (7 March 2021). "Green Party wants citizens' assembly to examine decriminalising drugs". BelfastLive. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Belfast North Northern Ireland Assembly constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  15. ↑ "Belfast North result - Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022". BBC News. BBC News. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "Green Party deputy leader Mal announced as North Belfast Assembly candidate". Belfast Media Group. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "New leader of Green Party NI determined to recapture lost MLA seats". BelfastLive. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  18. ↑ Wakefield, Lily (15 August 2022). "Northern Ireland's first out gay party leader vows to 'eradicate' homophobia". PinkNews. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  19. ↑ PA; Black, Rebecca (19 May 2023). "Green Party Northern Ireland leader Mal O'Hara loses seat on Belfast City Council, a year after predecessor lost Stormont seat". The Irish News. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  20. ↑ "Greater Shankhill Act". Facebook. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  21. ↑ Hughes, Brendan (7 March 2021). "Green Party wants citizens' assembly to examine if drugs should be decriminalised to reduce deaths". Belfast Live. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
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