PRO-INDEPENDENCE groups from Scotland, Wales and the island of Ireland have met to discuss how they can work together.
Representatives of civic and political organisations met in Cardiff on Friday, where they discussed their respective campaigns for self determination.
The Celtic Nations in Partnership summit is believed to be the first time these groups have come together, and comes just weeks after the leaders of the Celtic Alliance held a historic summit where they signed a memorandum of understanding and declared “Westminster’s time is coming to an end”.
Friday's "historic" meeting, which was convened by YesCymru, built on discussions with organisations from across Scotland, Wales and the island of Ireland which first began months ago.
The meeting brought together representatives from YesCymru, Ireland’s Future, SDLP, Plaid Cymru, Green Party Wales, Believe in Scotland, Business for Scotland, Common Weal, and Scottish Independence Forum.
Participants discussed their respective political contexts, the challenges facing their movements, and the opportunities represented by greater cooperation.
Rather than establishing a new organisation or imposing a formal structure, the summit focused on identifying practical ways in which the existing civic movements could support one another.
The groups agreed to take part in two further gatherings, one in Ireland in November and a second in Scotland.
Commenting, a spokesperson for YesCymru said: “The gathering represents the first known meeting bringing together civic campaigns and organisations from across the three nations around their shared interest in self-determination.
“Participants agreed that there is significant potential for the movements to strengthen one another by sharing knowledge, research, experience and expertise, and by amplifying each other’s campaigns and activity.
“There was broad agreement that the meeting should be the beginning of an ongoing process rather than a one-off event.”
Meanwhile, Sam Murphy, vice chair of YesCymru, said: “This was a genuinely significant moment. For the first time, representatives of civic movements and grassroots organisations working for Irish reunification and Welsh and Scottish independence sat around the same table and began a conversation about how we can work together.
“This did not happen overnight. YesCymru began these conversations many months ago because we recognised the value in bringing people together who are working in different nations but share a fundamental principle: that our nations should have the right to determine their own futures.
“The agreement to meet again in Ireland in November, followed by a gathering in Scotland, shows that there is a genuine appetite to continue this work. What happened in Cardiff was the beginning of something, not the end of a conference.”
The summit came after YesCymru’s march for independence in Aberystwyth on Saturday.
The march, which was addressed by Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, attracted a crowd of over 8000.
