WELL known as a trade union official for over 30 years, Lily Kerr is the Workers' Party candidate for North Belfast in the upcoming Assembly election on May 5.

Last year, members of the Workers' Party became embroiled in a bitter dispute as opposing factions attempt to lay claim to its name, leadership and assets. 

A group of members known as the “Northern Ireland Business Committee”, whose connection to the Workers' Party dates back to the 1970s, parted ways with the party’s existing Ard Comhairle, which is largely Dublin-based. 

We began by asking Lily about the split.

"I don’t recognise a split that took place," she said. "We are the Workers' Party and I am standing for them in this election. Those that claim there was a split are clearly not standing in this election and I am."

Moving on to issues on the doors, Lily said there has always been a cost of living crisis here.

"There has always been one. It is just affecting more people. There are a substantial amount of people in North Belfast who have been living in poverty for a number of years.

"One in four children here live in poverty.

"The Workers' Party are proposing an increase in Universal Credit benefits, a vulnerable children and families crisis payment, a home energy support payment of at least £300 and transport links, road, rail and ferries, gas, oil and electricity taken into public ownership."

On housing, Lily continued: "There needs to be massive investment. Housing needs to be built and allocated on objective needs.

"In this constituency, there have been houses which have been built and fallen into disrepair because they were not allocated.

"We need mixed and integrated housing and an end to the dependency on unscrupulous private landlords.

"The Housing Executive should be building and allocating houses."

As for health, Lily says the crisis has existed long before the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Health should not be a commodity but a service. The crisis in health did not start with the pandemic. It started with bed closures, hospital closures and privatising domiciliary care.

"Health needs to be publicly-funded and free at the point of delivery timely access to services and treatments. We need to protect the NHS from privatisation, low wages, fragmentation and under-investment.

"The Health Service needs a ten,15 and 25-year plan. Every time the health service has been re-organised, it has got worse."

As for education, Lily wants to see a fully-integrated secular education, publicly-funded third-level education with student grants, accessible, flexible and free pre-school education, more jobs and training, well-paid jobs, a centrally-planned economy, an end to zero-hour contracts, the introduction of a living wage and free, flexible and accessible childcare.

Lily has stressed the importance of these everyday issues which affect people, instead of focusing on a border poll, protocol, flags, culture wars or who the First Minister will be.

"I don’t think the protocol is going to make a damn bit of difference. We are talking about a protocol and a border poll and not the main issues of the day," she added.

"The border poll is not something that can be implemented overnight. It needs planned. Sinn Féin even say themselves the cost of living is the main issue.

"What difference will is make to a family facing a daily dilemma of heat or eat, to people living in chronic poverty, poor housing, or even no housing, or young mothers desperately wanting to work but not being able to find or afford child care? Absolutely none.

"The main issues are the cost of living, health service, housing, education, low pay and the environment."

Lily is highly critical of the two main parties – DUP and Sinn Féin and their power-sharing government and says it is time for change.

"Poverty has been something we have been living with for two decades. Not an awful lot has changed," she said. "The main parties are squabbling now pre-election over titles such as First and Deputy First Minister.

"The Workers' Party wants to bring people and their issues to the heart of government here and we believe only a socialist programme can achieve that."