Paschal O'Hare

Who is Paschal O'Hare?

Paschal O'Hare was a solicitor and former Irish nationalist politician.

O'Hare joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and he narrowly missed out on being elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention for Belfast West. In 1977, he was elected to Belfast City Council, holding his seat in 1981. He was unsuccessful in the 1979 UK general election, where he took 18.5% of the vote in Belfast North.

O'Hare was finally successful in Belfast North in the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982. By this point, he was a member of the SDLP Executive. However, in 1986, he resigned from the party in protest at the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which he believed reinforced Northern Ireland's links with Britain and reduced the likelihood of a united Ireland.

O'Hare has also defended a number of prominent cases, including defending Gerard McLaverty, a victim of the Shankill Butchers. His firm of solicitors still remains active in Belfast.