Senator Mal O'Hara was sitting down with Belfast Live ahead of his party's convention and AGM this weekend
The Green Party leader in Northern Ireland has said that his party lost seats in both the Assembly and at council level after the DUP gave Sinn Féin an open goal over their initial refusal to go into the Executive and thus denying Michelle O'Neill her chance to become the first nationalist First Minister.
"I've been welcomed with open arms and I've been able to raise issues about the North. So, it's been a really powerful, humbling experience and great to be involved in a progressive government, which is moving forward legislation, creating a healthy economy but also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by almost 7 per cent in the last year."
"It's rare you want to be wrong in politics, but I think my colleagues have proved some of my concerns wrong, and we've seen massive improvements in terms of environmental issues, huge investment in rail transport, buses, infrastructure, we've seen progress on women's health care. "If we look at the last two elections, I think it's fair to say we had a very toxic political environment in Northern Ireland now, not to take away anything from Sinn Féin's formidable election machine, but the DUP gave them an open goal by denying a nationalist First Minister," Senator O'Hara said.
"I think if you look at activist groups that are developing around environmental issues, they're all over Northern Ireland. They're not just focused in Belfast," he said. When asked how he felt about that and what the dynamic was like within the party after, Mal O'Hara said: "Clare moved on from the party a year and a half ago. She's a private citizen and perfectly entitled to vote for whoever or nominate whoever she wishes.
"But we've had 26 years of government here, on and off. Admittedly, almost 50 per cent of the time in Northern Ireland we've had no Executive. When it comes to the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister's recently published Northern Ireland Environmental Improvement Plan, Senator O'Hara said that he has "significant concerns" about its contents.
DUP Green Party Michelle O'neill North Belfast DAERA Sinn Fein Politics Stormont
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