Issues

Political Platform

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir has been Sinn Féin MLA for Belfast South since October 2014, succeeding Alex Maskey, and was Lord Mayor of Belfast in 2013-2014. He represented Upper Falls in Belfast City Council between 1985 and 1997 and more recently was a councillor for Balmoral from 2011 until his co-option as MLA. He stood unsuccessfully in Belfast South in May’s UK general election,

 

Where did your political journey begin?

I have been involved in political and community campaigning since my

A-level and uni days of the late ‘70s.

In particular, I felt a great affinity with the underdog and there were plenty of those on our television screens as I was growing up – the Wounded Knee occupation of 1973, the Vietnam War and on our streets where we never really did accept that getting stopped by British soldiers was ‘normal’.

 

How does politics today compare to your first experiences in the 1980s?

Of course, the great achievement of our generation has been to put the era of conflict behind us and that is the major difference between now and then. However, politics remains the same: ‘selling’ ideas, winning hearts and minds, making a positive impact on people’s lives, building community and being your brother’s and sister’s keeper.

How can local businesses benefit more fully from global links?

You need to set out your stall in the US but also to the Irish across the globe. Gary Hart, Special Envoy to Secretary John Kerry, has pledged to bring two fact-finding and job missions to the North this year to help build the peace. Wouldn’t it be helpful if we also had a diaspora delegation from Scotland, from England and even from Argentina?

The greatest gift the diaspora ever achieved was peace in the North. Now we have an opportunity to forge a mutually beneficial partnership with the global Irish. We should seize that opportunity to bring in tourists, to entice business, to build up our universities but also to deepen our connections with outside. A progressive city is also a connected city.

 

What was your main achievement as Lord Mayor?

I will leave that to others to decide. However, the most enjoyable achievement was working with the ten chaplains I appointed and learning how to preach the gospel without words even if, like me, you aren’t necessarily a person of faith.

 

What are your main interests in your free time?

I like to run. It’s good for the head and not bad for the body either.

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