NI council elections: Public don't want rerun of Stormont poll, says Greens leader Mal O'Hara

The Green Party is fielding 37 candidates for the council elections taking place on Thursday May 18, when 462 seats will be contested across 11 councils in Northern Ireland.

The party elected eight councillors in the 2019 local elections and will be hoping to improve on their representation at the council level after losing two MLAs at the 2022 assembly elections, leaving the party with no members at Stormont.

Speaking at the manifesto launch in Belfast on Wednesday, Mr O'Hara said voters are concerned about local issues.

“I think in the last week of the election things certainly polarised, the narrative of a nationalist first minister, the protocol certainly squeezed us in that last week in the minds of voters,” he said.

“But this is a council election.

“People are going to look at the delivery of local council services.

“They're going to want a return to basics in terms of cleansing, investment in parks, public spaces, things that councils are responsible for – the living wage, community energy schemes, challenging our planning to be much stronger.

“That's the issues that matter to people on the door, rather than a rebrand or a rehash of the Stormont election last year.”

The local election is Mr O'Hara's first as party leader; he took over from Claire Bailey after the party's loss of two MLAs in 2022.

He said the Greens have gained new energy since their loss last year and this election is not “do or die”.

He said: “We have a new wave of activists in the party. Our memberships actually increased since this time last year – some people maybe who were somewhat complacent about the Greens and thought, 'We're going to be there, we're going to be at the assembly'.

“I think there was a broad understanding of public opinion that most people were disappointed to see the Greens not represented in this assembly.”

Mr O'Hara added: “I think that's evidenced in terms of our new process around policy development, the change in leadership and the fact that we're standing 37 candidates, which is the most we've ever stood in any council election, covering more areas across Northern Ireland, more council areas, and offering people the opportunity to vote Green number one.

“So I don't think this is a do-or-die election.”

Mr O'Hara said the Greens are not a “one-issue” party, saying they have been ahead of the larger parties on social issues in the past.

“Expect in five years to see this manifesto in everybody else's manifesto, as is always the way with our party,” he said.

“We fight the hard fights when ideas are unpopular or novel or potentially controversial and, once the hard work is done, others adopt them.

“We've seen it on abortion, we've seen it on marriage, we are seeing it now thankfully on climate and biodiversity and we expect to see it on the issues that we're talking about in this manifesto.”

The Green Party manifesto includes plans for all councils to have net-zero climate targets, devolving more powers to local government and advocating for a citizens assembly on drug policy.