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Nicola Sturgeon has called for a new Scottish independence referendum in the second half of next year.

The First Minister made the comments on a visit to Dublin, where she said the "latter half" of 2020 would be the "right time" for a new poll.

The SNP leader predicted victory in a second vote, with Scotland becoming "an independent country just like Ireland".

She said: "There will be another Scottish independence referendum and I will make a prediction today that Scotland will vote for independence and we will become an independent country just like Ireland, and the strong relationship between our two countries now will become even stronger soon.

"I want to see Scotland having the choice of independence within this term of the Scottish Parliament, which ends in May 2021, so towards the latter half of next year would be when I think is the right time for that choice."

Sturgeon criticised the UK Government for treating Scotland with "utter contempt" over Brexit during the visit, when she met Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

In contrast, she said Ireland had been shown "solidarity and support" by the EU.

She said: "We voted over 60% to remain, we have tried very hard in the wake of the UK-wide Brexit vote to find compromises and protect our interests, and we have worked hard across party lines to try to prevent the worst impact of Brexit, and we have been ignored.

"Scotland has been treated with contempt by Westminster and people are contrasting that with Ireland, that has been shown real solidarity and support from the European Union.

"Suddenly this idea of being a small independent country in the European Union, we only have to look at Ireland to see the benefits of that and many people are having their eyes opened."

Sturgeon spoke out in the wake of a strong showing from her party in the EU elections.

The SNP took 38% of the vote to claim three of Scotland's six seats with the Brexit Party in second place with 15%.

The Green Party, which also supports independence, took 8%.

Added together that gave Yes supporting parties 46% of the vote – similar to the 45% who voted for independence in 2014.

The Yes movement still have a lot of work to do if they are to persuade more fellow Scots to join their independence crusade and get over the 50% required to win a new referendum.

However, if a right-wing English hard Brexiteer such as Boris Johnson takes over as UK Prime Minister at Westminster the SNP will hope more Scots will decide that an independent Scottish nation within the EU offers a more palatable long-term political future.