Interviewed on this morning’s Nolan Show, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood dropped into the conversation [towards the end of the second clip below] that Lisburn & Castlereagh City councillor Johnny McCarthy is joining the SDLP.

Johnny McCarthy was elected for NI21 in the 2014 local government elections, their only candidate to be elected (though Christina Dobson and David Cairns came close too).

During the party’s turbulent years, Johnny stuck with the party and became NI21 deputy leader in December 2014. However at the end of last year, he resigned from NI21 and has been sitting as an independent councillor ever since.

His new party membership will boost the SDLP’s presence on Lisburn & Castlereagh Council to four.