7 Sir Tom DevineHistorian Regarded as Scotland’s leading historian, Sir Tom Devine has emerged as the intellectual heavyweight behind the current wave of Scottish nationalism.His primary research interest is in Scottish nationhood and he made headlines during the country’s referendum debate by coming out in favour of independence.Sir Tom has pointed out that Catholics in Scotland, many of Irish descent, have become an increasingly potent force in the independence debate, shifting their traditional support away from the Labour Party to the Scottish National Party.An expert in the Irish Catholic diaspora in Scotland, he says that for the first time this group feels “comfortable in their Scottish skins”. As the independence debate refuses to go away, Sir Tom’s i