The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’s largest nationalist party have joined forces in a renewed push for constitutional change and the right to hold referendums on their futures.
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney, Welsh First Minister and Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin met in Cardiff today (Monday), alongside Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald.
The parties signed a joint declaration asserting the right of their nations to self-determination and arguing that Westminster should not be able to prevent democratic votes on constitutional change.
For Scotland and Wales, that means the right to pursue independence from the United Kingdom, while Sinn Féin is campaigning for a referendum on Irish reunification.
The declaration states that no Westminster government should be able to “block democracy” and that people in each nation should ultimately decide their own constitutional future.
The Cardiff meeting comes at a significant moment, with pro-independence parties now leading the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the first time.
The summit also follows renewed debate around Irish unity after US President Donald Trump publicly backed a united Ireland during his visit to Ireland over the weekend.
