THERE were jubilant scenes in Derrylin yesterday when bankrupt former billionaire Sean Quinn stepped foot back on the premises he once owned following the Aventas Group buyout. Three years after Mr. Quinn was stripped of his global empire after the Anglo Irish Bank stepped in to curb spiralling debts of over four billion euro, he returned to where it all started.

In a significant development, the packaging, cement, therm and concrete divisions of the business have been bought by a local consortium, including Fermanagh businessman Ernie Fisher, and Mr. Quinn who vowed to return to the business one day has done exactly that.

With a new team comprising of former Quinn Group management the company, has appointed Mr. Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man, in an advisory capacity.

Yesterday morning employees took a sledgehammer to the Aventas Group sign, removing it to uncover the previous sign – the letter ‘Q’.

One of the Aventas signs was later set on fire as some employees jumped up and down on it.

With Quinn Holdings moving in yesterday, it is understood the management of Aventas Group, which still run Quinn Glass, are working from an office in Dublin and a new office near Paget Square in Enniskillen.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Liam McCaffrey, the company’s chief executive, said the acquisition marked a new chapter for all those involved, including his many employees.

“This company had a unique culture that was built in fairness around the profile and ethos of Sean Quinn and that uniqueness sustains and develops it. Over the years there has been a lot of trust in this company and a lot of people willing to work with each other.

“For Sean and the local community there is a sense of pride in collectively proving a point.

I think it’s a return of a significant part of it. Today is the start – it’s not a finish. We are taking over a business that we have to drive forward,” he said.

Asked about the role of Mr. Quinn in the company, Mr. McCaffrey said: “Sean will be a consultant to the business. He was hugely important in terms of growing and developing this business over 40 years and it would be foolish not to utilise that. The process that took place in recent years, I think, many of us feel was unduly harsh.” The debate has been ongoing for years over which version of reality is the correct one. Some see Mr. Quinn as a man who, in his final years in charge, ran his companies “recklessly”, resulting in huge debts. Others, including the Quinn family, seek to portray the Aventas management as having destroyed huge business value in the company.

John McCartin, Director of Quinn Industrial Holdings, said he was looking forward to working alongside Mr. Quinn.

“I think it is very important that the community returns to this business. It is crucial that there are challenges in running this business and if you have the expertis, the talents and the energy of somebody like Sean Quinn two miles down the road why would you not tap it.

“I am looking forward to seeing Sean Quinn around here and bringing back energy, enthusiasm and expertises. There is something very poetic about it; the place was taken in hostile fashion and we’ve come back to run this business with the right message and intentions. My message to Sean Quinn is: we are very proud to be here maintaining your legacy,” he said.

Ernie Fisher, former managing director of Fisher Engineering in Ballinamallard, has also been involved in the purchase of the company.

“I think it’s very important for all the businesses in Fermanagh, Leitrim and Cavan to have this business back managed by local people. People in these counties are great workers but they work better with local management. It is a very viable business. I think it’s important to see Sean Quinn back involved in giving the business his support,” he said.

Mr. Quinn has always been determined to repair and rebuild the damage from his fall from grace which even included a nine-week jail sentence for contempt of court.

In 2011 in his first interview since he lost control of his global empire, Mr. Quinn told The Impartial Reporter: “We are determined to move on and rebuild the family’s reputation over the next five to ten years and try to undo some of the injustices we feel has been done to us.” Yesterday staff members cheered as Mr. Quinn walked up the steps to the company’s headquarters, with one employee heard shouting: “Welcome home, Sean”.