“I think we need to listen very carefully to what the president of the commission Ursula von der Leyen has actually said. She wants the Government to act swiftly, and she wants two names. She wants a woman and a man.”
“I think because of my position as first vice president of the parliament that my name was in the mix early on,” she said. “I spoke to one person who is a good friend of mine for advice.” “This is about someone who is committed to Europe,” she said. “I think we have forgotten that here in Ireland. We have focused on Ireland’s interests as if they are exclusive and different from European.
Ms McGuinness also said Ireland’s reputation had suffered in Europe as a result of the controversy, but not “in the sense that we cannot recover”.