The transition period for the UK to leave the EU post the Brexit vote should be "as long as it takes to find a solution", according to former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.

Kenny was speaking to Bloomberg TV in New York yesterday ahead of a Brexit themed conference organised by Matheson - the Irish law firm for internationally focused companies doing business in and through Ireland. 
 
Kenny also described the prospect of a hard Brexit as "catastrophic for business" and noted that "sufficient progress had not been made" to allow negotiations move on to their second phase.
 
Over 200 people from a wide range of sectors attended the event in New York, including Ireland’s foreign direct investment agency, IDA Ireland.
 
Speaking yesterday, Kenny said, "Nowhere is the challenge of politics and taking decisions in the interests of the people more clearly demonstrated than in trying to deal with the consequences of the Brexit vote in the UK. And when it comes to the negotiations between the UK government and the EU I believe that not enough progress has been made in the first phase of talks to allow progression to the second phase. It’s also my view that a transition arrangement will be necessary, if and when the two-year timetable for negotiations is not met, and I think that transition period should take as long as is required to find a solution that works in the interest of all the people affected."

He added, "Finally, the prospect of a ‘Hard Brexit’ that many are now discussing would, in my opinion, be catastrophic for business and by extension terrible for the people that politics is meant to serve. That is the challenge now for those involved directly in the ongoing talks."

Source: www.businessworld.ie