The landmark ‘Quinn Country’ documentary series recently broadcast on RTÉ captivated viewers from across Ireland as they were reacquainted with the story of the business magnate who was ‘too big to fail’.

However, subsequent fall-out from the series shows that Seán Quinn remains as divisive a figure as ever.

Questions remain to be answered over many issues, including those involved in co-ordinated attacks on the former Quinn companies, for which nobody has yet been convicted.

Mr. Quinn broke his silence on the issue of the burning of an electrical substation which happened in the area back in 2012, claiming a former associate was behind the attack.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr. Quinn claimed: “I was in prison when the burning of the substation happened. If there was paying done, who did it? It wasn’t Patricia [his wife] going around with an armful of money.”

Mr. Quinn then is said to have named a former associate to The Sunday Times whose identity was not printed.

Other details revealed in the interview included that Mr. Quinn has just finished work on his own 80,000-word biography, entitled, ‘Seán Quinn: The True Story’, expected to be published next year.

Many in the media and public have had some difficulty with Mr. Quinn’s lack of sympathy for his former right-hand man, Kevin Lunney, who was abducted and brutally attacked in 2019.

In the final episode of Quinn Country, when asked if he had anything to do with the attack on Mr. Lunney, Mr. Quinn said: “Absolutely nothing. Why would I bother me head with Kevin Lunney? ... One thing I think that somebody should ask Kevin Lunney ... why was he attacked?”

Viewing figures from across Ireland show that 600,000 people tuned in to watch the three-part programme last week, with many newspapers in the Republic devoting pages of coverage to the programme.

Some outrage was directed at the former Fine Gael leader, and a former Minister for Justice, Alan Dukes, who served as the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Chairman following the collapse of the Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

During the documentary, Mr. Dukes made disparaging comments about people from the Border region when he said: “Border people have it [violence] in their blood. They are living in communities that have violence of different kinds. They’ll more easily turn to it.

“I’m not saying they’re different animals from the rest of us, but whether they have Provo links or B-Special links. It’s something that’s nearer to the way they think than it would be to someone in south Tipperary or anywhere like that, you know.”

Mr. Dukes subsequently defended the comments on RTÉ Radio One’s Claire Bryne Show, but later apologised for his remarks, saying: “Those remarks were entirely unjustified and I apologise unreservedly ... I apologise without any reservation.”