Like many green political parties around the world, its origins lie in the anti-nuclear, labour and peace movements of the 1970s and early 1980s.

In the Northern Ireland local elections of May 1981, Peter Emerson, Avril McCandless and Malcolm Samuels stood as the first candidates to use the Ecology label in Northern Ireland and gained 202, 81 and 61 votes respectively; the first in a large urban area, the other two in smaller rural constituencies.

The LGBT group dissolved in early 2012 as their main aim—pushing for the inclusion of same-sex marriage within party policy—was achieved at the 2011 AGM after a unanimous vote.

The group is taking charge of party policy on LGBT rights, issues, welfare, campaigning, lobbying and raising awareness.

[13] The Green Party has four key values: social justice, environmental sustainability, grassroots democracy and non-violence.

Agnew has also been a long-standing supporter of integrated education and a society based on equal rights and mutual respect for all traditions.

The party has also called for funding to be focused on improving public transport infrastructure and supports the creation of an independent environmental protection agency for Northern Ireland.

They also campaign for a shift to alternative energy for Northern Ireland and were involved in the setting up of a lobby group for the sector.

Brian Wilson MLA stood down ahead of the 2011 Assembly election,[23] in which the party won a seat on North Down council,[24] with their candidate Steven Agnew.

[25] Agnew subsequently stepped down from his position on North Down Borough Council as the party took a strong stand against so called 'double jobbing' or dual mandate; he was replaced by John Barry.

Bailey and Rachel Woods were both defeated in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, leaving the party with no representation in Stormont for the first time since 2007.