Ireland's once richest man granted 13-day adjournment despite concerns over asset recovery in Anglo Irish Bank case
Ireland's former richest man Sean Quinn has avoided prison for at least another fortnight after the high court in Dublin granted his legal team a 13-day adjournment.
Quinn's son Sean Jnr was also released from prison on Friday after serving a three-month sentence for contempt of court – a charge that he, his father and his cousin Peter Darragh Quinn were all found guilty of earlier this summer.
They were found guilty after it emerged the Quinns had moved assets worth millions of euros out of reach of the former Anglo Irish Bank. The bank alleges the Quinn family owe the now state-owned institution more than €2bn (£1.6bn).
Sean Quinn Jnr walked hand in hand his wife, Karen Woods, from Dublin's Four Courts to an awaiting BMW car.
His father's legal team from Belfast told the court Quinn Snr's life would be at risk if he went to jail. They told the court that the bankrupt businessman wants to co-operate with the Irish Banking Resolution Corporation and purge his contempt.
They have secured a 13-day adjournment to get up to speed on the case despite IBRC's concerns about delay.
The bank's lawyers contend Quinn has done nothing to obey orders aimed at reversing a scheme to strip him of his valuable assets.
They say that new evidence shows the Quinns are still in control of these companies and any substantial delay could mean certain assets will be lost for ever. His defence team countered that he is a 66-year-old who has had two major heart operations with his liberty at risk.
Peter Darragh Quinn is effectively hiding from the Republic's authorities by fleeing to Northern Ireland. There are no legal measures in place for extradition because the case is a civil matter rather than a criminal one.
Sean Quinn Snr lost his fortune in the international property market during the Celtic tiger boom years borrowing hundreds of millions of euros from the Anglo Irish Bank. The global recession and the property crash led to the collapse of the bank which was then nationalised as part of a state rescue plan of the debt-ridden Irish banking system.
The Quinn business empire, built on a cement-making operation and a highly successful insurance firm, became the victim of over-reach into the property market. The Quinns personify the demise of the Celtic tiger economy and its over-confidence in a property boom.
His fate has divided public opinion in the Republic in Cavan and Fermanagh, where the Quinns created thousands of jobs. Up to 5,000 people turned up last weekend for a rally in support of the family in its battle with the IBRC and the courts in Dublin. But there is little sympathy for the Quinns away from the family base.
