NEW: Mairead McGuinness, Ireland's EU Commissioner, tells @morningireland "there is a deal to be done" and that last night's dinner will have clarified what the faultlines are, and "if we take the heat" out of the issues around sovereignty and independence
.@McGuinnessEU said there was "one glimmer of hope" in the EU statement, ie that "We gained a clear understanding of each other´s positions, qualifying that by saying both sides remained far apart"
McGuinness says the European Commission will issue No Deal contingency plans "later today or tomorrow". "I hope they won't have to be implemented and that we get a Christmas present over the weekend"
"We never had great expectations that there would be a breakthrough over dinner, but the fact that there was a discussion, lively and interesting...and that there was a clear understanding of each other's positions, doesn't mean that there will be a breakthrough...
"...but it's certainly better than a statement suggesting otherwise. I would expect those three very difficult issues will be discussed in detail again to see where a compromise might be found."
McGuinness raises a point on the so-called ratchet/evolution clause, which @BorisJohnson attacked yesterday, by refering to the large quantities of lamb meat exported from the UK to France.
"[UK farmers] do it on our standards now. I daresay that if there was a change in our standards upwards, because we will not have any regression, I would think that British farmers would like to meet that standard to maintain access to the European market for their product.
"So if you take some of the heat out of this discussion and look at the practical implications for businesses and individuals of our failure to reach agreement I think on balance a deal and agreement is much more important particularly in the 11th hour"
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