In an interview with the University of St Andrews philosopher John Haldane, published in the Catholic Herald in October 2006, O'Brien stated that he would be "happy" if Scots voted for independence and predicted that independence is coming "before too long".
U intervjuu s filozofom profesorom Johnom Haldaneom sa Sveučilišta u St Andrewsu, objavljenom u Catholic Heraldu u listopadu 2006. godine, O'Brien je izjavio da će biti "sretan" ako Škoti budu glasali za neovisnost te predvidio da će neovisnost stići "vrlo skoro".