Mal O'Hara
{{Short description|Northern Irish politician (born 1979)}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Mal O'Hara.png
| alt =
| caption = O'Hara in 2024
| office1 = Senator
| term_start1 = 8 April 2024
| term_end1 = 31 January 2025
| constituency1 = Administrative Panel
| office = Leader of Green Party Northern Ireland
| deputy = Lesley Veronica
| term_start = 15 August 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = Clare Bailey
| successor =
| office2 = Deputy leader of Green Party Northern Ireland
| leader2 = Clare Bailey
| term_start2 = 9 March 2019
| term_end2 = 15 August 2022
| predecessor2 = Tanya Jones
| successor2 = Lesley Veronica
| office3 = Leader of the Green Party on Belfast City Council
| leader3 = {{ubl|Clare Bailey|Himself}}
| term_start3 = 7 May 2019
| term_end3 = 18 May 2023
| predecessor3 = Georgina Milne
| successor3 = Brian Smyth
| office4 = Member of Belfast City Council
| constituency4 = Castle
| term_start4 = 7 May 2019
| term_end4 = 18 May 2023
| predecessor4 = David Browne
| successor4 = Brónach Anglin
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1979|07|28|df=y}}{{cite tweet|last=O'Hara|first=Mal|user=oharamal|number=1288241413763850243|title=41 today! How the heck did that happy . So birthday dinner treat from my beau after 6 hour planning meetings. #stillaleo #postlockdownhair}}
| birth_place = Belfast, Northern Ireland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Green Party
| spouse =
| children =
| education = St Malachy's College
| alma_mater = University of Central England in Birmingham
}}
Malachai O'Hara (born 28 July 1979) is a Northern Irish politician, activist and community worker who has been the leader of the Green Party Northern Ireland since August 2022, having previously served as deputy leader from 2019 to 2022.{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Sarah |date=10 March 2019 |title=Meet the new Deputy Leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/meet-new-deputy-leader-green-15951191 |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=BelfastLive |language=en}} O'Hara was a Belfast City Councillor for the Castle electoral area from 2019,{{cite news |last=Ferguson |first=Amanda |title=DUP gains seats, but Sinn Féin keeps top spot in Belfast City Council |date=5 May 2019 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/dup-gains-seats-but-sinn-f%C3%A9in-keeps-top-spot-in-belfast-city-council-1.3881672 |access-date=8 April 2022 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}} until 2023.{{cite news |date=19 May 2023 |title=Green Party Northern Ireland leader loses seat on Belfast City Council |url=https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2023/05/19/green-party-northern-ireland-leader-loses-seat-on-belfast-city-council/ |access-date=19 May 2023 |website=Shropshire Star |language=en}} In 2024, he was elected unopposed to Seanad Éireann, in a by-election to the Administrative Panel.{{cite web | url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2024/0325/1439923-seanad/ | title=Leader of Green Party in NI elected unopposed to Seanad | date=25 March 2024 | last1=Cunningham | first1=Paul | website=RTÉ.ie }}
Early life
O'Hara was born in North Belfast. He attended St Malachy's College and was a classmate of John Finucane who also later entered politics. The same year the Good Friday Agreement was signed, he then attended the University of Central England in Birmingham.{{Cite news |date=3 May 2019|title=North Belfast school friends battle it out in election |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-48139161 |access-date=8 April 2022}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Avila |first=Michael |date=21 April 2020|title=Community voices: "My experience in the grassroots is my motivation for getting anything done in politics" |url=https://www.northernslant.com/community-voices-malachai-ohara/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516181250/https://www.northernslant.com/community-voices-malachai-ohara/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 May 2020 |access-date=8 April 2022|website=Northern Slant |language=en-GB}}{{Better source needed|reason=The current source may be insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=July 2022}}
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".{{Cite web |last=Colhoun |first=Ciara |date=23 June 2018|title=LGBTQ community to take over Stormont for one night only |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/lgbtq-community-take-over-stormont-14818090 |access-date=8 April 2022|website=BelfastLive |language=en}}
Political career
O'Hara joined the Green Party in 2014.
He was the Green Party candidate for Belfast North at the 2016 Northern Ireland Assembly election, where he was eliminated on the seventh count with 796 first preference votes (2.18%).
O'Hara tried again from Belfast North at the 2017 Assembly election, where he received 711 first preference votes, a 1.7% share of the vote.{{Cite news |title=Belfast North Northern Ireland Assembly constituency |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/northern-ireland-constituencies/N06000002 |access-date=28 November 2022}}
At the 2017 general election, O'Hara contested Belfast North, where he finished fifth with 644 votes (1.4%), losing his deposit.
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 one seat to four.{{Cite news |title=Green Party gains show Northern Ireland voters want to step away from 'them and us politics' |language=en-GB |work=belfasttelegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/local-elections-2019/green-party-gains-show-northern-ireland-voters-want-to-step-away-from-them-and-us-politics-38079705.html |access-date=8 April 2022|issn=0307-1235}} 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.{{cite news |title=LGBTQ+: Thirty years of Belfast Pride |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/weekend/thirty-years-of-belfast-pride-40703719.html |last=Kerlin |first=Damian |date=31 July 2021 |access-date=8 April 2022 |issn=0307-1235}}
On the council, O'Hara was a prominent campaigner for clean air, rent controls and climate action.{{Cite news |title=Ambitious climate change initiative launched in Belfast |language=en-GB |work=belfasttelegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/ambitious-climate-change-initiative-launched-in-belfast-38850800.html |access-date=8 April 2022 |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |title=Demand for rent to be capped in Belfast following house price rise |date=25 October 2021 |url=https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/demand-for-rent-to-be-capped-in-belfast-following-house-price-rise-3432072 |access-date=8 April 2022 |website=News Letter |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Air quality link to 178 deaths in Belfast in single year |last=McConville |first=Mark |date=27 January 2020 |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/air-quality-link-to-178-deaths-in-belfast-in-single-year-38896955.html |access-date=8 April 2022 |issn=0307-1235}} 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."{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Brendan |date=7 March 2021|title=Green Party wants citizens' assembly to examine decriminalising drugs |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/green-party-wants-citizens-assembly-19980866 |access-date=8 April 2022|website=BelfastLive |language=en}}
He was a candidate in Belfast North at the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, receiving 1446 first preference votes, thereby increasing his share of the vote to 3.1%.{{cite news |title=Belfast North result - Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2022/northern-ireland/constituencies/N06000002 |access-date=28 November 2022 |work=BBC News |agency=BBC News}}{{Cite web |title=Green Party deputy leader Mal announced as North Belfast Assembly candidate |url=https://belfastmedia.com/green-deputy-leader-announced-as-north-belfast-candidate |access-date=8 April 2022|website=Belfast Media Group |language=en}}
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.{{cite news |title=New leader of Green Party NI determined to recapture lost MLA seats |url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/new-leader-green-party-northern-24755191 |access-date=15 August 2022 |work=BelfastLive |date=15 August 2022 |language=en}} He was the first openly gay leader of a major party in Northern Ireland.{{Cite web |last=Wakefield |first=Lily |date=15 August 2022|title=Northern Ireland's first out gay party leader vows to 'eradicate' homophobia |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2022/08/15/mal-ohara-green-party-northern-ireland-gay/ |access-date=18 August 2022|website=PinkNews }}
At the 2023 Northern Ireland local elections, O'Hara lost his seat.{{cite news |url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/05/19/news/green_party_northern_ireland_leader_loses_seat_on_belfast_city_council-3291338/ |author1=PA |first2=Rebecca |last2=Black |date=19 May 2023 |title=Green Party Northern Ireland leader Mal O'Hara loses seat on Belfast City Council, a year after predecessor lost Stormont seat |access-date=26 May 2023 |website=The Irish News |language=en}}
In March 2024, O'Hara was announced as the Green Party candidate at the 2024 Seanad by-election and was elected unopposed.{{Cite web |title=Green Party nominates Mal O'Hara as Seanad candidate |url=https://www.greenpartyni.org/green_leader_selected_for_seanad |access-date=12 March 2024|website=Green Party Northern Ireland |language=en}}{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2024/0325/1439923-seanad/|title=Leader of Green Party in NI elected unopposed to Seanad|work=RTÉ News|date=25 March 2024|access-date=25 March 2024}} He took his seat on 8 April 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68759476|website=BBC News|date=8 April 2024|title=Mal O'Hara: Green Party NI leader becomes Irish senator}}
O'Hara contested Belfast North at the 2024 general election. He received 3% of the vote against the incumbent MP, Sinn Féin's John Finucane.
He did not contest the 2025 Seanad election.
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.{{Cite web |title=Greater Shankhill Act |url=https://www.facebook.com/ACTgreatershankill/posts/3031488620275081 |access-date=9 May 2022|website=Facebook |language=en}}{{cite news |last= Hughes |first= Brendan |date= 7 March 2021 |title= Green Party wants citizens' assembly to examine if drugs should be decriminalised to reduce deaths |url= https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/green-party-wants-citizens-assembly-19980866 |work= Belfast Live |access-date= 18 August 2022}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Northern Ireland party leaders}}
{{Members of the 26th Seanad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:OHara, Malachai}}
Category:Green Party Northern Ireland councillors
Category:Gay politicians from Northern Ireland
Category:Members of Belfast City Council
Category:Politicians from Belfast
Category:Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland