The world has “moved on” from Sinn Féin’s controversial links to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), John Swinney has said, as he defended his plans to work with the party in Northern Ireland.
First Minister John Swinney said the SNP, Sinn Féin and Plaid Cymru – the nationalist party in Wales – must work together on the constitutional divide with Westminster.
He has been criticised for the move, particularly as Sinn Féin was previously politically linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The Troubles lasted around 30 years until the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The two main political parties to the peace pact were the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), but it also included Sinn Fein, the Alliance Party and the Progressive Unionist Party.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) did not support it.
More than 3,500 people died, with armed groups from the IRA and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) carrying out bombings and shootings.
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In an interview in Bute House, Mr Swinney said “people have got to move on” from that period when asked whether he had any concerns about working with Sinn Fein.
He said: “If you had said to me in 1986…that Northern Ireland would be able to deliver the Good Friday Agreement, signed off by Ian Paisley as the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and Gerry Adams as the President of Sinn Féin, supported by the British and Irish [governments], I would have been pretty sceptical about that, but it happened."
Ian Paisley and the DUP opposed the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Swinney added: “So, the world’s moved on, and I know that my dialogue with Sinn Féin caused a media consternation in Scotland, but I really do think people have got to move on.”
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “John Swinney’s self-serving justification for teaming up with Sinn Fein will rightly anger many Scots.
“No one is beyond the pale to the SNP, provided they share their goal of breaking up the UK – even the erstwhile political wing of the IRA.
“It’s easy for Swinney to tell people to move on – but it’s grossly offensive to those who lost loved ones during the Troubles.”
This is the first time the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been led by three political parties who want to leave the UK.
Mr Swinney described it as a “seismic moment” for the future of the UK.
He said he would work with both political parties on opposing the UK Government’s policies on the cost of living.
It could be particularly important for Mr Swinney’s party given he did not secure a majority in Holyrood, meaning he must rely on the UK Government to grant a Section 30 order – the mechanism used to hold another referendum.
Michelle O’Neill, the First Minister of Northern Ireland and vice-president of Sinn Fein, welcomed the collaborative approach with the SNP as she warned the public had to break free from the “shackles of Westminster”.
The SNP has worked with Sinn Féin before, with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon holding talks with Ms O’Neill in May 2022.
The two leaders discussed issues surrounding Brexit.
Brian Taylor’s full interview with First Minister John Swinney can be viewed here.
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