UK has no Brexit plan - MEP McGuinness

MEP Mairead McGuinness believes that the UK does not have a Brexit plan and that she wants clarification on what a “United Kingdom approach” means for Scotland and the North.
Ms McGuinness was speaking to The Anglo-Celt after a meeting on Brexit held at Cavan County Council on Wednesday, attended by councillors, TDs, senators and MEPs.
“The fact that Teresa May says the UK is leaving does not preclude a discussion on what about the regions who wanted to stay,” McGuinness told the Celt.
“Can their concerns be accommodated? How can they be accommodated? All we can do now is tease out options without knowing when the UK will trigger its decision to leave by using Article 50 and not knowing how long and difficult that process will be.”
McGuinnness attended a science forum held by Joe Johnson, brother of Foreign Minister Boris, last week and spoke with the Science Minister about Brexit.
“While the UK is talking of going global and that there is more to life than the European Union, quite frankly, I did not get an opinion that there is a plan for life after the union because there isn’t one and that’s a big problem for the rest of the union and it impacts on us all.
“While there’s a lot of concern about Europe and the case for reform in many member states the polling of opinion suggests that while people aren’t any more in love with the union they are less inclined to say ‘gosh, we don’t need it or want it’, so perhaps the referendum has caused us all to take a step back and we are beginning to realise that we, for example, as a small country, would be in a very difficult, near impossible place in a globalised world if we left.”

Position paper
It had been suggested at the meeting that Cavan County Council come up with a position paper for Border counties on how to prepare and proceed when Brexit is triggered.
“My constituency is midlands-northwest and I don’t see a big amount of difference in my constituency between one side of it and the other. Farmers in Leitrim and Roscommon, for example, trade cattle across in the North so it’s not just that you are on the Border but there’s no harm in hearing the practical concerns that are being expressed at the moment but we are going to have to be patient and live with the uncertainty for the time being but I believe the outcome we all want to see is as close to the status quo as possible, after Brexit as before,” said the Louth native.
“However, we need time and space to find out what the UK is looking for... and they haven’t said that, that’s where this issue becomes incredibly complicated but my strong political instinct is that it will go ahead.”