A Celtic union or Celtic alliance refers to political unity between the Celtic nations either within the UK or together as independent countries.
In 1964, Charles De Gaulle proposed a Celtic Union that would establish and develop links between Celtic countries. There should also be a Celtic "Esperanto" to facilitate communication and which would be created from common elements in all Celtic languages and a Pan-Celtic festival. [1] [2] : 108
In 2010, Plaid Cymru and the SNP formed a "Celtic Alliance" with the aim of increasing their influence on a UK government via agreements over policies and funding. [3]
In November 2016, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon stated the idea of a "Celtic Corridor" of the island of Ireland and Scotland appealed to her. [4]
In a Plaid Cymru conference in 2019, leader of Sinn Fein, Mary Lou McDonald stated "We need a pan-celtic anti-Tory political culture. A shared political culture that respects each other’s sovereignty and right to nationhood. A shared political culture grounded in principles of common interest and common purpose." [5] She echoed these views in a supportive video message to YesCymru in July 2022. [6]
In June 2022, Bangor University lecturer and journalist, Ifan Morgan Jones has suggested that "a short-term fix for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland might be a greater degree of cooperation with each other, as a union within a union." he also suggested that "If they could find a way of working together in their mutual interest, that’s a fair degree of combined influence, particular if the next General Election produces a hung parliament." [7]
In July 2023, the Welsh Government announced a "Celtic Heritage – Cornwall-Wales Collaboration Agreement" focused on cooperation in the following areas;
In August 2023, political leaders from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Galicia and Asturias met at the first ever Celtic Forum. Areas of discussion included a "Celtic Erasmus", Maritime transport, fishing & offshore wind power and native languages. Native languages include; Asturian, Breton, Cornish, Galician, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. [9]
In January 2024, a Celtic Alliance was again proposed by a journalist Farrell Perks as a political co-operation between the Celtic countries within the UK to advance the cause of self-determination. [10]
In March 2017 a letter to the Irish Times proposed a Celtic union of Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Scotland as an alternative to Brexit where "Northern Ireland is a swing vote". [11]
In April 2017, a Celtic union of the whole of Ireland, Scotland and Wales was proposed as an alternative to Brexit. Such a union would require the independence of Scotland and Wales and the reunification of Ireland [12]
In January 2019 the leader of the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru party, Adam Price spoke in favour of cooperation among the Celtic nations of Britain and Ireland following Brexit. Among his proposals were a Celtic Development Bank for joint infrastructure and investment projects in energy, transport and communications in Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man, and the foundation of a Celtic union, the structure of which is already existent in the Good Friday Agreement according to Price. Speaking to RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster he proposed Wales and Ireland working together to promote the indigenous languages of each nation. [13] [14]
In August 2019, Alastair Kneale of the Celtic League Mannin Branch said that the Isle of Man should also be open to a Celtic union. [15]
In the same month, Jason O'Toole writing for the Irish Mirror suggested a 'Celtic Pact' between Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, similarly to the Scandinavian Nordic Council. [16]
In June 2020, journalist Gina Tonic suggested a "United Celtic Republic" including Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Brittany and a United Ireland. [17]
In July 2020, the potential "Celtic Corridor" bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland was proposed as a potential link for a Celtic union. [18]
In 2022, journalist Jamie Dalgety has also proposed the concept of a Celtic Union involving Scotland and Ireland but suggests that lack of support for Welsh independence may mean that a Gaelic Celtic Union involving may be more appropriate. [19]
Celtic union may also refer to:
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerably to include everything from traditional music to a wide range of hybrids.
Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Adam Robert Price is a Welsh politician who served as Leader of Plaid Cymru from September 2018 to May 2023. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2016, having previously been a Member of Parliament (MP) for the same Westminster constituency from 2001 to 2010.
The International Celtic Congress is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languages of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The International Celtic Congress is a non-political charitable organisation and its stated object is to "... perpetuate the culture, ideals, and languages of the Celtic peoples, and to maintain an intellectual contact and close cooperation between the respective Celtic communities."
The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places particular emphasis on promoting the Celtic languages of those nations. It also advocates further self-governance in the Celtic nations and ultimately for each nation to be an independent state in its own right. The Celtic League is an accredited NGO with roster consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (EcoSoc).
Welsh nationalism emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self-determination, which includes Welsh devolution, meaning increased powers for the Senedd, or full Welsh independence.
Pan-Celticism, also known as Celticism or Celtic nationalism is a political, social and cultural movement advocating solidarity and cooperation between Celtic nations and the modern Celts in Northwestern Europe. Some pan-Celtic organisations advocate the Celtic nations seceding from the United Kingdom and France and forming their own separate federal state together, while others simply advocate very close cooperation between independent sovereign Celtic nations, in the form of Breton, Cornish, Irish, Manx, Scottish, and Welsh nationalism.
The Celtic nations or Celtic countries are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term nation is used in its original sense to mean a people who share a common identity and culture and are identified with a traditional territory.
Welsh republicanism or republicanism in Wales is the political ideology that advocates for Wales to be governed by a republican system, as opposed to the monarchy of the United Kingdom.
Welsh independence is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
The Pan Celtic Festival is a Celtic-language music festival held annually in the week following Easter, in Ireland, since its inauguration in 1971. The first Pan Celtic Festival took place in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. Its aim is to promote the modern Celtic languages and cultures and artists from six Celtic nations: Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales.
Cornish devolution is the movement to increase the governing powers of the County of Cornwall.
Separatism in the United Kingdom may refer to the secession of any of the countries of the United Kingdom from the union. Less significant movements for separatism within England also exist.
Unionism in Wales is the political view that supports a political union between Wales and the other countries of the United Kingdom. As well as the current state of the UK, unionism may also include support for Federalism in the United Kingdom and a United Kingdom Confederation.
Federalism in the United Kingdom aims at constitutional reform to achieve a federal UK or a British federation, where there is a division of legislative powers between two or more levels of government, so that sovereignty is decentralised between a federal government and autonomous governments in a federal system.
Nation.Cymru (transl. Nation.Wales) is a Welsh news service established in 2017 with the aim of creating a national English-language news service for Wales. It receives £20,000 a year from the Books Council of Wales and the rest of its financial support comes from 1,000 monthly subscribers to the site.
Welsh devolution is the transfer of legislative power for self-governance to Wales by the Government of the United Kingdom.
A British confederation or a confederal UK has been proposed as a concept of constitutional reform of the United Kingdom, in which the countries of the United Kingdom; England, Scotland, Wales, as well as Northern Ireland become separate sovereign states that pool certain key resources within a confederal system with a central authority. Under the system, the central authority exists with the consensus of the constituent countries, which also maintain a right to seccession, if they wish.
There have been calls for further Welsh devolution, increasing the autonomy for Wales, since the Welsh legislature of the Senedd was founded following the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum.