The National Chairperson of Ógra Shinn Féin has been selected to replace long-serving Colin Councillor Stephen Magennis on Belfast City Council.

22-year-old Caoimhín McCann will be formally co-opted onto the Council at its next meeting on March 1.

Last week, the Andersonstown News reported that Cllr Magennis was stepping down after more than decade as a Sinn Féin elected representative to look after his family.

Mr McCann's appointment will see him become the youngest Sinn Féin Councillor in Ireland. However, the Poleglass man has been a party activist for a number of years, serving in his local Cumann (branch) and in the constituency office of West Belfast MP Paul Maskey.

Despite his appointment to Belfast City Council, he will remain the National Chairperson of Sinn Féin's youth organisation, Ógra Shinn Féin - a position he has held since he was 19.

Mr McCann said he cut his teeth in politics during his school years while canvassing for former Colin Councillor David Bell, and formally became Sinn Féin member in 2017.

He said his political background is in "community activism" and focussing on "bread and butter issues" affecting the people of the Colin area. 

His role in Ógra Shinn Féin, he explained, gave him a "different perspective" by affording him the opportunity to look at the politics of Sinn Féin across the 26 Counties. 

"As you travel about, you realise that the issues in Poleglass are pretty much the same as they might be in Tallaght, or Ballymun, or Salthill in Galway," he said.

"Working class people across Ireland are facing pretty much the same issues, but just in a slightly different arena with two styles of government that partition brings."

He said the "bigger picture" means that political activists should "act locally but think nationally".

In taking on his new role as Councillor, Mr McCann paid tribute to his predecessor.

"Stephen has been a rock in our community for 30 years, and he has been a Councillor for over a decade," he said. 

"I'm not going to be Stephen, I'm going to be Caoimhín. When I took over the Chair position in Ógra, Mary Lou (McDonald) pulled me aside and - it's maybe a cliche now - but she said 'don't be filling anybody else's shoes - bring your own'. I hope to bring that same approach into the area. I'm not going to be filling anybody else's shoes. That has worked for me elsewhere, doing things to the best of my ability and putting my should to wheel."

As an organisation, Ógra Shinn Féin is often to the left of its parent party on a number of issues, including having an openly pro-choice position on women's healthcare.

Asked if taking up his role as Sinn Féin Councillor will necessitate a shift in his politcs, Mr McCann said his politics and principles "will remain the same".

"I'm an Irish republican and that means being community facing, a socialist, a feminist, an environmentalist, an internationalist, to be anti-sectarian, and anti-racist, as well as striving for our national liberation," he said.

"Those principles won't change and couldn't change.

"Ógra are a great group and sometimes young people can be a bit louder and a bit more in your face, but that's part of being young really. There's not really any tension that exists between Ógra and the party. There'a always a healthy tension, and we'll fall out in different places, but in terms of our objectives it's to deliver for people and to build that better republic."