GREEN Party councillor Mal O'Hara was first elected to Belfast City Council in 2019 and is also Deputy Leader of the party. Mal is also the party's Assembly candidate for May 5 in his home constituency of North Belfast and is hoping to be the first Green MLA elected in the area.
In a sit-down interview with the North Belfast News, Mal began by talking about the issues on the minds of constituents, which he believes can be tackled by Green politics.
"I would say emphatically it is not the protocol or a border poll. It is not about the constitutional question," he stated.
Since the campaign started formerly my team and I have knocked 1000s of doors and spoken to hundreds of people.
The protocol has come up 1 time.
A united Ireland or border poll has yet to come up.
You know what almost everyone raises? Cost of living and health. #AE22— Cllr Mal O’Hara (Castle DEA) Belfast he/him (@oharamal) April 6, 2022
"The main issues are cost of living, healthcare crisis, housing and education. These are bread and butter issues for people in this election.
"In terms of cost of living, people are frustrated and annoyed and are seeing their bills rocketing. We still have an economy that is based on an addiction to fossil fuels. We are importing coal, oil and gas from dictators which is managed by big companies who are price gouging us.
"We live on a rainy and windswept island. We can produce solar, tidal, offshore or onshore wind to create the energy to meet our needs. This would be controlled by community energy schemes which would ensure people are not ripped off.
"We need to make that transition to renewable energy. It will also create jobs and transform Belfast back into a manufacturing hub that was world leading one hundred years ago.
"For health, people are deeply frustrated that once again the Executive has collapsed, as we emerge from the pandemic and are enduring a cost of living crisis.
"The healthcare crisis has been building for a number of years. Five years ago when Sinn Féin pulled down the Executive, we had a quarter of a million people on waiting lists. Fast forward to today and we have 400,000 people on waiting lists.
"Our slogan is it is time. It is time to move beyond the traditional binary politics here and focus on bread and butter issues. It is time to elect politicians who deliver."
Addressing the protocol directly, Mal recognises concerns from within unionism but says they are not going to be resolved at Stormont.
"I admit there are concerns from people within unionism around the impact of the protocol.
"It was hugely irresponsible of the DUP to pull down the Executive and Stormont when it can’t address the protocol or deal with it while we are in a cost of living and healthcare crisis and emerging from a pandemic.
"People want good government. There is £300 million sitting there which cannot be used without a functioning Stormont.
"The protocol has come up in passing when I have been out canvassing. Some in unionism might tell you it is the burning issue but it is certainly not my experience.
"As a progressive party, we canvass all of North Belfast, from the New Lodge to Tiger’s Bay and the Shore Road to the Antrim Road.
"Both the DUP and Sinn Féin have not delivered good government. I would ask them to question their record over the years and ask what was delivered."
Mal is confident in his record as a councillor for Castle DEA and says he has delivered for the people of North Belfast.
"Since I was elected as councillor, I feel I have delivered for people," he stated.
"I set up a climate unit in Belfast City Council which will put us on a path to net zero. Air pollution is linked to one in twenty deaths in the city.
"When the pandemic hit, I set up a soup kitchen which delivered 17,000 meals to vulnerable people in the first three months. I also helped with pedestrianizing Union Street.
"The lack of cycling infrastructure is very frustrating. Work has only started on a proposal for a cycling lane on the Limestone Road even though it was announced by the Minister last February.
"In the Waterworks ward, which is one of the most deprived in the North, over fifty per cent of households do not have access to a car or van. People are reliant on good public transport, walkable areas and cycling infrastructure.
"There is to be no more cycling infrastructure to at least 2025. That is not the ambition of a Minister who believes there is a climate emergency. I am delighted the Minister made the right decision on the Incinerator which I know was a big issue for people.
"As for the York Street Interchange, the current proposal was dreamed up in the 1970s. It is a roads first project that will create a spaghetti junction type mess which will further cut off North Belfast further from the rest of the city core.
"I withdrew council’s support for the York Street Interchange unless it meets our housing and climate ambitions.
"I am also frustrated that there is no clean air strategy yet from the Executive. We need to address the issue of air pollution urgently."
Ahead of the May 5 poll, Mal is urging voters to vote for change and cited the Green Party's election slogan, 'It is Time'.
"I think people should vote for me because I have proved I can deliver as the sole Green Party councillor in North Belfast. If you are fed-up with the traditional binary politics here and stagnation, you have to vote for people who deliver.
"It is time to vote Green. On May 5, I am urging people to cast your first preference vote for O’Hara."
