A FORMER  North Belfast councillor has been nominated by the Green Party as the party’s candidate for the Seanad by-election.

Mal O’Hara has been the Leader of the Green Party in the North since August 2022. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 2019 for the Castle area before losing his seat in last year's elections.

Before entering politics, he worked in the community and voluntary sector for almost two decades,  addressing inequality and helping to build peace in the most deprived areas of Belfast. 

He was previously the health manager at Ireland’s largest LGBTQ+ organisation, is the former Vice-Chair of the Equal Marriage Campaign in the North, was a board member for both a local and regional mental health charity and a former Harbour Commissioner.

He was nominated by the Green Party’s Seanad Election Task Force and the Executive Committee and will now be the party’s candidate when the Seanad fills the position created by the resignation of Sinn Féin’s Niall Ó Donnghaile.

Nominations for the by-election, in which only current TDs and senators vote, close on March 22.

If elected, he would be the first elected senator who classified himself politically in the North as 'other' which means he does not exclusively represent either nationalist nor unionist traditions.

The Green Party currently has four senators in Dublin's upper house: Pippa Hackett, Pauline O’Reilly, Roisin Garvey and Vincent Martin.

Party leader Eamon Ryan said: “Mal’s nomination is a proud moment for the Green Party both north and south of the border and strengthens the all-island nature of our party.

"As a senator, Mal could be a strong voice for all communities across the North as well as the disadvantaged, the LGBT community and, of course, the environment.”