DAN Murphy is the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) candidate for West Belfast in what will be his party's first foray into an Assembly election in its 48-year history.
A community activist, he first came to local prominence through his involvement in Beechmount Residents' Collective, but has been a long-term member of the IRSP.
Asked why the IRSP chose to stand in the Assembly election, Mr Murphy said it was an "issue of resources".
"The last election we stood in was 2011, and obviously the result wasn't great," he said.
However, the Beechmount man said the decision to stand on May 5 comes off the back success of IRSP initiatives like its 'Drop the Rents' campaign to reduce private rental costs in line with housing benefit levels.
"We've found ourselves in a really good position and we want to push this campaign forward," he said.
"There was a lot of debate going on about this (the election) and it wasn't something that came out of the blue right and quick. After three years of work on the ground we decided to give it a go. We're doing the work on the ground and there seems to be a solid support base there. We're in a far better position than what we have been ever politically. Our view was to capitalise on that."
Mr Murphy said that housing is the most pressing issue in the current election campaign.
"There's a lack of social housing in West Belfast, high rents, and there's a cost-living-crisis," he said. "These all fit into the same bubble. People just can't afford to live anymore. That's the black and white reality of it.
"We want to bring rentals in areas of high social housing demand down to what the social housing benefit level is," he continued.
"Ultimately the goal of the 'Drop the Rents' campaign is to make private landlordism unprofitable. I'm not going to say that private landlordism is single-handedly to blame for the housing crisis, but it has played a major role in it. There's no doubt about that. The more people we drive away from that the better. Putting more pressure on the Housing Executive to either buy back or build new houses is pivotal to make those changes on a structural level. We're not going in thinking that a single MLA is going to change the structural issues facing the people of West Belfast, but we can act as a serious voice for changing things in that direction."
On the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Murphy called for "more safeguards for workers" including "raising wages in line with inflation".
"I was down with the strikers at Caterpillar the other week, and again with the council workers who were out on strike the other week, and the thing is that their pay rises have effectively been nothing," he stated.
"In real terms they're taking pay cuts. One of the fundamental things to at least try to change is pay rises that act as pay rises, to give more spending power to the vast majority of people, people who are actually going to spend their money rather than hoard it."
Asked about measures to deal with health service pressures, Mr Murphy again pointed to the need to raise wages for workers.
"There needs to be more of an incentive for people to work in the health service," he said.
He also advocated for the creation of an all-Ireland National Health Service as a means of "pushing Irish unity to the fore".
"This all falls into poverty to a certain degree, and there is no quick fix to any of it. We've been doing work in terms of anti-community activity, we've been trying to deal with it ourselves but we're obviously very limited in what we can do. It's usually young people and for us there is no simple fix.
"You're not going to get a fix from Stormont. It's going to take work on the streets as well as through these chambers to get any modicum of change."
The IRSP is just one of a number of left wings organisations contesting the election, and Mr Murphy said there "is room for cooperation" amongst them. However, he insists his party's vocal opposition to the Good Friday Agreement sets it apart.
"One of the biggest factors between us and other left wing groups is that we're still resolutely opposed to Stormont, we're still an anti-Good Friday Agreement Party," he stated.
"That position hasn't changed or altered in the slightest. In terms of Stormont, we do want to bring this institution down. Our drive is to push forward Irish unity in every corner. There can be no socialist republic in a Six County statelet."
The Andersonstown News asked Mr Murphy about the IRSP links to the INLA and the efficacy of maintaining an armed wing of the Republican Socialist Movement.
"We're very proud of everyone who gave their lives in defence of this movement historically, but the INLA called an end to their armed campaign in 2009," he said.
"It has given us, the IRSP specifically, room for manoeuvrability where we can engage in the political structures. The INLA fully accepted in '98 that there was no appetite for armed conflict, regardless of what their thoughts or feelings were on that they had to go with what the public wanted."
