Mike O'Hara

Mike O'Hara died on 30 October 2026 at the age of 76, according to BBC Guernsey. His death was reported by the Guernsey Press and the BBC on 4 November 2026. The place and cause of death have not been made public; former colleague Matt Fallaize said he had been frequently unwell in recent years.

Tributes came from across Guernsey politics. Former chief minister Lyndon Trott remembered him as "a great community deputy" with a mission "to put a smile on people's faces". Deputy Gavin St Pier recalled "his sunny personality and unrelenting optimism", and Deputy John Gollop called him "a convivial and jovial person and a comedian and warm-hearted charitable person". Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of 4 November 2026.

Michael George O'Hara was 76 when he died in October 2026, which places his birth in 1949 or 1950. His exact date and place of birth, his parents and his schooling have not been made public.

What is documented is the life he built in Guernsey. He lived in the parish of St Andrew, which he first represented as a member of its douzaine before entering the States. Former chief minister Lyndon Trott remembered him as a distinguished sportsman, particularly at cricket and football. He married Teresa, who became his partner in more than four decades of voluntary work, and the couple had a son whose dyslexia assessment in the early 1980s set the course of their lives outside politics.

Details of Mike O'Hara's education have not been made public. His later public life was closely tied to education policy: he served on the States Education department, campaigned in his 2008 manifesto for nursery facilities within primary schools and against the closure of St Andrew's school, and spent decades championing specialist teaching for children with dyslexia.

O'Hara began in local government as a douzaine representative for St Andrew's, and that parish experience shaped his later work as the first chairman of the States Douzaine Liaison Group. According to the States members' directory he was first elected a deputy on 22 January 2001, and he went on to represent the South East district through the elections of 2004, 2008 and 2012.

During his time in the States he sat on the Commerce & Employment and Education departments and chaired the Overseas Aid Commission. On Commerce & Employment he championed the Trafalgar memorial mast that was lifted onto the St Julian's Avenue roundabout on 24 April 2005 for the SeaGuernsey celebrations. Many islanders objected at first, but he predicted it would be a gateway to Guernsey and a Christmas light tree, and it became a much loved landmark.

He became Culture & Leisure minister in 2008 and was returned unopposed and unanimously in May 2012, which also gave him a seat on the Policy Council under chief minister Lyndon Trott. The department looked after sport, the arts, museums, heritage sites, Beau Sejour and the Liberation celebrations. O'Hara organised Liberation Day festivities, including the 70th anniversary in May 2015, and argued that 9 May should be an official bank holiday so that islanders would still celebrate with the same excitement in a hundred years. As chairman of the X-treme Sport Association he led a campaign of almost a decade for a permanent skatepark beside Beau Sejour; work was due to start in May 2011 and the park was open by June 2013. In 2014 he visited Gibraltar to strengthen cultural links and met Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, and in 2015 he welcomed the return of the Gallo-Roman "Asterix" ship timbers to the island. He also represented Guernsey through the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

At the April 2016 general election the South East district was cut from six seats to five. O'Hara came sixth of 13 candidates, about 120 votes short, and was one of four ministers to lose their seats. He told the BBC he had "done a lot for a quarter of my life" and could "go out thinking I've done a good job."

Outside the States, O'Hara's lasting work was the Dyslexia Day Centre, founded with his wife Teresa. The couple trace its origins to 1983, when their son was assessed as dyslexic by Peter Gilchrist. The O'Haras then advertised for other parents in a similar position. A coffee morning grew into a public meeting at Les Beaucamps School in February 1983 that drew more than 200 people, and an association was formed.

In June 1986 parents prepared the old pavilion at the King George V playing fields, and the centre opened that autumn (the Guernsey Press dates the opening to October 1986, while some BBC reports give 1987). Its specialists taught in primary schools and at the centre, and it later moved to the former St Andrew's Primary School, with a refurbished centre opened in January 2018. It received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2011. By 2023 it had eight teachers supporting about 150 children a year, with a States grant of about 200,000 pounds providing 70 to 80 per cent of its revenue.

In March 2023 the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture withdrew the grant to bring dyslexia teaching into schools. O'Hara, as chairman, said the decision was a "total shock", that the grant was 70 to 80 per cent of the charity's revenue, and that it needed to raise 100,000 to 150,000 pounds by Christmas, while adding that he agreed with what the States was trying to achieve. The centre carried on with donations until it closed in June 2025.

O'Hara was married to Teresa O'Hara, his co-founder and the long serving manager of the Dyslexia Day Centre. The couple had a son, whose name has not been made public in reporting about his father. They lived in St Andrew, Guernsey.

Friends in the States called him "Tommy". He was a keen sportsman, particularly at cricket and football, and was known as a convivial, jovial man and something of a comedian. In December 2018 he was the guest on BBC Radio Guernsey's Lihou Island Discs with Jenny Kendall-Tobias. Former deputy Matt Fallaize noted that in his later years he was frequently unwell.

O'Hara's politics centred on island identity, community and young people. In his 2008 manifesto he wrote that Guernsey must "win back the Island's confidence and put a smile on people's faces to stir in them a feeling of Island pride", called for budget restraint without cutting services to levels that caused discontent, urged faster planning decisions, supported tidal power, and asked for more facilities for young people, "especially a skate park". In 2012 he again stood on service to the community and young people, encouraging new business to tackle unemployment, and protecting Guernsey's heritage, way of life and island pride from outside influences.

He believed specialist, early support for dyslexic children was essential, and remained critical of the States decision to stop funding the Dyslexia Day Centre, while publicly agreeing with the aim of helping more pupils in schools.

O'Hara's legacy is visible across Guernsey: in the Beau Sejour skatepark he spent a decade campaigning for, in the Trafalgar memorial mast on the St Julian's Avenue roundabout, and in the Liberation Day celebrations he organised and fought to protect. Former deputy Matt Fallaize said the best tribute to him was "the hundreds of people who have much better reading and writing skills today than they would have without the support of the centre", noting that he and Teresa had worked tirelessly for dyslexic youngsters for more than 30 years. Father of the House John Gollop called him a gentleman who worked hard for "the parish, community, culture, leisure, sports, arts, education and dyslexia support".

The Dyslexia Day Centre he co-founded received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in June 2011, recognising its work teaching children and young adults with dyslexia and raising awareness of the condition. No personal state honours for O'Hara have been reported.

As Culture & Leisure minister O'Hara was a familiar face in Channel Islands media, from BBC Guernsey and ITV Channel coverage of Liberation Day to Guernsey Sports Commission videos, including a spoof BMX film made for the commission's tenth anniversary in 2014. He appeared on BBC Radio Guernsey's Lihou Island Discs in December 2018, and in August 2026 he and Teresa looked back on the Dyslexia Day Centre in a Guernsey Press feature.

Two public debates marked O'Hara's career. The SeaGuernsey 2005 memorial mast, which he backed, drew so many objections that he later said it was "quite staggering", although opinion turned once it was erected. In 2023 he publicly disagreed with the States decision to end funding for the Dyslexia Day Centre, saying in 2026 that the island had a "very professional outfit" on its doorstep and "just didn't want it". No personal scandals have been reported.