91Èȱ¬

The new deputy leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland has spoken of how personal tragedy has shaped her political outlook.

Lesley Veronica's father was abducted and killed by the IRA in the 1970s, while her son, aged in his 20s, died in a drug-related incident.

Ms Veronica was appointed unopposed last month, when Mal O'Hara became the Greens' leader.

The 54-year-old is a politics lecturer in Belfast Metropolitan College.

Speaking to 91Èȱ¬ News NI, she said the deaths of her loved ones had shaped her politics and informed the policies she wanted to pursue.

Her father, David Bingham, was a part-time soldier who was abducted and shot dead by the IRA in Belfast in 1973.

"My father was only 22 when he was killed and it was just coming up to my fifth birthday," she recalled.

"That was a very traumatising event and it definitely gave rise to a very different childhood for me."

Ms Veronica said the experience "committed" her to peace building and sparked her interest in politics.

"I ended up doing a politics degree and becoming a politics and history lecturer, and a lot of that was about putting an academic framework around personal pain," she said.

She also served as a member of the Victims and Survivors Forum, a group of people who were injured or bereaved during the Troubles who help to influence government policy on dealing with the legacy of the conflict.

Two years ago Ms Veronica's 29-year-old son died in a drugs-related incident.

"My son was one of those appalling statistics for 2020 - one of those 218 people who lost their lives due to drug dependency," she said.

"The journey that we were on with him, watching the difficulty that gave rise to and the struggle that it was, and then to end up with him tragically dying was utterly, utterly life changing for me and it really shaped my understanding of addiction.

"It shaped my understanding of how we really need to think differently about that because, if what we're interested in is solving the problem then we need to use tested methods for solving the problem."

With regard to her new role, Ms Veronica said her party needed to be "really up front about the cost-of-living crisis".

"For us, this cost-of-living crisis is very intimately linked to what we would like to see with regards to climate action," she said.

The change in the Green Party leadership team follows a disappointing result in May's Northern Ireland Assembly election, when the party lost both its seats, including the one held by former leader Clare Bailey.

Ms Veronica said the lack of a contest for the post of deputy leader was not a sign of weakness in the party but more a testament to the support she has among Green members because of her work record since 2016.