Sinn Fein has vowed to help the SNP ‘break the shackles of Westminster rule’ after John Swinney said he would ‘enjoy’ collaborating on Scottish independence.

Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Fein First Minister of Northern Ireland, said wins for the SNP and Plaid Cymru in May’s election would be a ‘seismic moment’ for the ‘crack’ in the Union.

The support followed Mr Swinney revealing plans to work with Sinn Fein, which has historic links to IRA terrorism, and Plaid to ‘change the dynamics’ of the UK ‘irreversibly’.

Polls suggest next month’s election will see separatist parties win in Scotland and Wales, with Sinn Fein already in power.

Sinn Fein MP John Finucane said on X: ‘Sinn Fein will work with all those parties who share the desire and pursuit of independence, including those in Scotland and Wales who want to break the shackles of Westminster rule.’

Ms O’Neill told Northern Ireland’s Cool FM News: ‘There is a crack in terms of the Union and the disunited kingdom is very much on show. We could, in the next number of weeks, have a very historic and seismic moment.’

Agreeing with her, the SNP said three Nationalist leaders would be an ‘absolutely seismic moment’ and show the world ‘Westminster’s time is up’.

Ex-Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘Swinney’s shameful overtures – which Sinn Fein have seized upon – demonstrate loud and clear that securing a referendum will be his only focus if he secures a majority on May 7.‘

Mr Swinney has been facing a growing backlash over his 'beyond the pale' bid to work with Sinn Fein on breaking up Britain.

Mr Carlaw, who was at his party's conference when an IRA bomb went off at the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984, led the criticism of the SNP leader.

He said earlier this week: 'It's clear that no organisation or party is beyond the pale when it comes to pushing his independence obsession.

'I was at the Conservative Party conference in Brighton when the IRA tried to assassinate the British government at the height of the Troubles.

'The thought of John Swinney working in tandem with the political wing of that terrorist organisation turns my blood cold. Yes, time has passed and Northern Ireland has changed, but it's widely known that senior figures in Sinn Fein have blood on their hands.

'Sadly, the SNP have a blind spot when it comes to independence and no ally is too toxic in pursuing their obsession. John Swinney should be ashamed of himself.'

Sinn Fein, led by Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill, seeks a referendum on a united Ireland by 2030. She has previously met Mr Swinney's predecessors, Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, for talks at Bute House.