Born in County Antrim, O'Hare joined the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and he narrowly missed out on being elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention for Belfast West.
[2] In 1977, he was elected to Belfast City Council, holding his seat in 1981.
[3] He was unsuccessful in the 1979 general election, where he took 18.5% of the vote in Belfast North.
[4] O'Hare was finally successful in Belfast North in the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982.
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; ironically most Unionists viewed the Agreement just the opposite, as a nationalist political victory which enhanced Dublin's role in Northern Ireland's affairs.