John Swinney has provoked fury by doubling down on his call for people to ‘move on’ from Sinn Fein’s IRA links so he can join forces with the Irish Nationalists.

The First Minister said he had ‘no intention’ of apologising after being accused of insulting the families of Scots soldiers killed during the Troubles.

Opposition parties said he had put his ‘fingers in his ears’ in an ‘utterly shameful’ rebuff.

David McCaughey, whose cousin was shot after being abducted by the IRA, said: ‘He’s spat on the graves of 140 murdered Scottish soldiers. The man’s a disgrace.’

Mr Swinney said last month that he would ‘enjoy’ working on Scottish independence with Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland and Plaid Cymru in Wales if all three held power at the same time.

He said he wanted to ‘change the dynamics’ of the UK ‘irreversibly’.

Speaking to the Herald last week he dismissed concerns about Sinn Fein’s historic links to the IRA by saying: ‘The world’s moved on. I know that my dialogue with Sinn Fein caused a media consternation in Scotland. I really do think people have got to move on.’

It led to families of Scots soldiers killed by IRA atrocities demanding an apology, with a protest now planned outside Holyrood on Thursday.

But speaking to the Press Association on a visit to the Clyde Gateway regeneration project near Glasgow, Mr Swinney was unrepentant.

He said: ‘I have no intention of apologising for that. Sinn Fein are an elected administration in Northern Ireland, and I deal with elected politicians.

‘I think the issues that are involved in the peace process have involved people moving on, people have had to move on, that’s exactly what they’ve done, and I’m simply reflecting what’s happened.’

He added: ‘I am very happy to take forward collaboration with Sinn Fein and with Plaid Cymru as administrations led by Nationalists who want to take forward their agenda.

“There is a lot that has happened in the years since the Troubles came to an end with the Good Friday Agreement.

‘I respect entirely anybody who has suffered as a consequence of the Troubles, I respect what they have experienced and in no way does the political co-operation that I would take forward today undermine the respect I have for those individuals.’

Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton: ‘This doubling down is utterly shameful from John Swinney.

‘Despite families telling him the scars of the IRA’s brutal atrocities will never heal; he’s clearly got his fingers in his ears.

‘It is deeply offensive for the SNP leader to tell people who lost loved ones in the Troubles to move on.

‘He should do the decent thing and meet families who will be outside Holyrood on Thursday and apologise in person for his ill-judged remarks which they are rightly furious about.

‘But as long as the political wing of the IRA share John Swinney’s desire to break up the UK, then he will never feel they are too toxic to work alongside.’

Mr McCaughey, 58, of Rutherglen near Glasgow, lost his 23-year-old cousin Dougald McCaughey in 1971 when the IRA targeted him and two other off-duty Royal Highland Fusiliers, bothers John and Joseph McCaig, aged 17 and 18.

Lured to a bar, they were driven to a remote location and shot.

He said last night: ‘John Swinney should apologise and resign. Did he ask Sinn Fein IRA if they’ve moved on? The man’s a disgrace.’

Also attending Thursday’s Holyrood protest event is the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) which supports victims and survivors from the decades of violence.

SEFF director Kenny Donaldson said last night: ‘What is it that Mr Swinney doesn’t understand? Why is he unable to show some humility?

‘Our core concerns are his laissez-faire attitude around people needing to “move on” and also his unwillingness to confirm whether the Sinn Fein leadership’s position that there was “no alternative” to killing people reflects his own perspective.’

He urged the First Minister to meet the group and work ‘constructively’ with the families of Scottish soldiers and others murdered and needlessly killed by sectarian ‘hatred’.

He said: ‘We’re prepared to engage in that dialogue, and this can begin on Thursday.’

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is tone deaf of John Swinney to ignore the families of Scots killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

‘They called on the First Minister to apologise, and he has simply refused.

‘That is disrespectful to those families who lost loved ones and have had to live with the consequences.’

The only MSP to have served as long in Holyrood as Mr Swinney, she added: ‘While it is important that politicians are able to have constructive dialogue with people from all parties and backgrounds, John Swinney should show far more consideration to the families affected.

‘It is wrong that he has refused to acknowledge the deep divisions and hurt of the past by dismissing those who have raised concerns. He should reconsider his stance.’

The SNP was asked for a response to the criticisms.