McGuinness taken to hospital say Spanish reports

Mairead McGuinness MEP was taken to hospital in Valencia, Spain yesterday after fainting during a meeting, according to reports in the Spanish press. 

McGuinness, a Fine Gael MEP and European Parliament vice-president, hails from Ardee. According to Spanish daily newspaper ABC, she fainted during a meeting of the EPP held in the eastern Spanish city. 

On Friday afternoon, Mairead McGuinness' office confirmed to the Dundalk Democrat that the MEP left the hospital on Thursday evening, is fine and is returning home to Ireland today.

The newspaper reported that McGuinness fainted at around 3pm on Thursday after a meeting with Deputy Spanish prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría

McGuinness was attended to by hotel staff before an ambulance arrived from the Servicio de Atencion Medica. She was transferred to a hospital in the city where she was kept in for observation. 

Shortly after, an ambulance arrived from the SAMU , which took her to a hospital center in Valencia, where she was undergoing observations by doctors on Thursday evening. 

McGuinness is based at the European Parliament in Brussels and travels to and from her home near Ardee weekly.