Quinn bankruptcy in NI annulled
Published 10 Jan 2012 17:45
FERMANAGH businessman Sean Quinn has had his bankruptcy in Northern Ireland annulled by a court in Belfast.
It means the one-time billionaire could now be made bankrupt in the Irish Republic where the terms of bankruptcy are considerably tougher.
The move follows a legal challenge by the Anglo Irish Bank which claimed the 65-year-old should be declared bankrupt in the Irish Republic where it is seeking to recover billions in debt from the businessman.
Mr. Justice Donal Deeny, sitting in the High Court in Belfast on Tuesday, ruled in favour of the bank. He said he did not accept that Mr. Quinn was, as he had claimed, centering his affairs in an office in an industrial estate in Derrylin.
"I hereby annul the bankruptcy order of November 11 2011, obtained by Sean Quinn - on the ground that it should not have been made as the centre of the debtor's main interests was not in Northern Ireland at the time of bringing the petition, but within the jurisdiction of the High Court in Dublin," he said.
Mr. Quinn was in the court to hear the judge announce he had annulled the bankruptcy. Speaking to reporters afterwards, the businessman couldn't hide his anger.
"I'm 65 years of age and I've never worked a day of my life outside Northern Ireland. I never did a day's work from southern Ireland in my life. I never done a day's work in my home. I never had any computers, I never had any IT system. Everything was always done from Derrylin.
"What Anglo Irish has done to the Quinn Group is like somebody taking a sledgehammer to a child's toy - they've destroyed it," he said.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 10 Jan 12
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