THE owner of a crane hire company was warned to remove his equipment from a wind farm once owned by the Quinn Group before it was “burnt to the ground.”

East Cork Crane Hire was assisting owners of the Slieve Rushen wind farm in carrying out maintenance on two of the 26 turbines scattered across the Cavan-Fermanagh border.

According to a close source, the owner of the company was told that if he didn’t remove his equipment, believed to cost in the region of £5 million, he “would face the consequences.”

“The owner was invited to meet someone face to face yesterday evening. He did and was handed a list of all his equipment. He was told that if he didn’t remove all of his equipment it would be burnt to the ground,” the source told impartialreporter.com.

“This person told him: 'we are serious, we are very good at this, we do a good job'.”

Aidan Kelleher told the BBC that he instructed his employees to leave the area because he was not prepared to put his workers in danger.

Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott said the latest incident surrounding the company once owned by discharged bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn was “inexcusable.”

“I understand this company supplied a crane to carry out work and the owner was threatened and forced to remove his equipment off the site. Not only does that highlight the dangers facing workers, but it highlights the threat to local jobs.”

“This is a very serious situation and no society should have to put up with this type of behaviour,” said the Fermanagh-south Tyrone representative. 

PSNI Detective Inspector Brian Foster said his officers were investigating.

“We continue to work with An Gardaí Siochana and will investigate any incidents of criminality. We understand the concerns of the local community and are working with stakeholders to address these,” he said.

The An Garda Siochana declined to comment.