THIS week The National is heading to Wales and Northern Ireland to find out how Scotland is working with the Celtic Alliance to challenge the "constraints of the Union".
In Belfast on Monday, our reporter Hamish Morrison will travel to Stormont to interview Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill.
From there, he will head to Cardiff to speak with Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams on Wednesday.
He'll talk to them about how they’re advancing their right to self-determination, what Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can learn from one another on language and culture, and give you an insight into the workings of some of the most consequential political movements in the UK today.
It marks the first time The National has sat down with conversations with top Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru politicians on their home turf and comes after a seismic set of election results which have sent the hares racing down in Westminster.
For the first time in history, the people of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are all now led by politicians who want to escape from the “shackles” of London rule, in O’Neill’s words.
Already efforts are underway to build relationships between the governments in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
Speaking to The National ahead of the visit, First Minister John Swinney said that working with Sinn Fein and Plaid Cymru would help advance the cause of Scottish independence.
He said: “I want to meet with my counterparts, the First Minister of Northern Ireland and the First Minister of Wales, to discuss just how we co-operate together on issues to advance the interests of our own peoples but then also to advance the constitutional change to which we are all committed.
“We have individual cases to make and I don't speak for or argue for the constitutional positions of anybody else, but we do have shared interests. We have shared interests in self-determination.”
We will be filing stories on our site throughout the trip and you will be able to watch the interviews in full on our YouTube channel when they go live. And don't forget to subscribe to our brand new Celtic Alliance newsletter.
Stay tuned – it’s going to be a big one.
