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Thousands show up to show support for bankrupt billionaire Sean Quinn

Massive Cavan rally as Sean Quinn breaks down in tears over Anglo Irish Bank pursuit

PATRICK COUNIHAN,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, July 30, 2012, 5:27 AM

Updated Monday, July 30, 2012, 7:14 AM

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Sean Quinn gets emotional as over 4,000 turn out in Cavan to show their support

Photo by PA

Irish sporting legend Mickey Harte led a massive rally in support of beleaguered and bankrupt billionaire Sean Quinn on Sunday night.

Harte, manager of the Tyrone football team, was just one of a number of sporting celebrities who joined over four thousand people in Cavan to show their support for Quinn.

A handwritten letter from Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary in support of Quinn was read to the gathering.

For decades the Quinn Group was the largest employer in the unemployment black spot border area providing as many as 7,000 jobs.

Quinn made a disastrous punt in Anglo Irish stock just as the bank was collapsing. Now the bank is pursuing him and his family to recover guarantees he gave which number in the billions of dollars.

Former Meath manager Sean Boylan, All-Ireland winning Armagh boss Joe Kernan, and legendary players Colm O’Rourke and Jarlath Burns, also attended the march.

Together with outspoken priest Fr Brian D’Arcy, they took to the stage at the local GAA club when an emotional Quinn addressed the huge crowd.

As his son Sean Jnr serves a three month prison sentence, Quinn thanked those who had supported him after the collapse of his multi-billion Euro empire in his ongoing battle with the former Anglo Irish Bank.

Once the richest man in Ireland, Quinn was close to tears as he said, “It might be a bit emotional for me this evening speaking in my home town.

“Since March 2010, when Quinn was put into receivership, the support has been outstanding. A propaganda war has been waged against Quinn for the past 28 months.

“A story has been told that is not a true story. We hope that the intelligent people will understand the difference.

“One special guest that knows all about justice, or lack of it, is Mickey Harte. I think he and his family came through it with dignity and we hope we can come through it with half the dignity that he did.”

Accompanied by his wife Patricia and his extended family, Quinn heard a number of celebrity speakers address the crowd in Ballyconnell.

Protesters waved placards which read, ‘Free Sean Jnr, he’s no criminal’ and, ‘Anglo Steals a Business. Quinns get Jail. Why?’

Tyrone football boss Harte, whose daughter Michaela was murdered on honeymoon in Mauritius last year, drew the biggest cheer of the night.

He told the crowd: “Evil prevails when good people do nothing. It is payback time for Sean Quinn.”

All-Ireland winner Boylan added: “Every man in this country is entitled to justice.”

O’Rourke said: “Nobody should take any solace in the public humiliation of the Quinn family. You never kick a man when he is down.”

Outspoken cleric Fr Brian D’Arcy, a family friend, told the crowd: “We have a duty to stand by our neighbours when they’re in trouble.

“Seán Quinn and his family brought prosperity and jobs to the area from stony rocks.

“In doing so, he brought peace to the country by creating thousands of jobs and this removed the oxygen for violence.”

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21 Comments

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ciaradexy | Aug 01, 2012, 09:31 AM EDT

Noreen, you dont know what youre talking about. Please shut up.

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Happyhippo | Aug 01, 2012, 09:01 AM EDT

While there is no disputing the Quinn's have been major contributors to employment and jobs in the country the fact is they made bad calls by investing in Anglo and others which were a disaster,they made the decisions to transfer assets outside the state so as to avoid paying their debts,we all have to take responsibility for our own decisions we make in life,the Quinns are no different.

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bob mcbride | Jul 31, 2012, 12:47 PM EDT

Who controls the european courts? Deutsche bank? It is time for all working class people to file suit against bank executives and insurance executives around the world! Their phony paperback industry is helping nobody except line their own pockets. Who are the executives keepers? I wouldn,t say Quinn will ever drown in his own sweat!

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noreendelargy | Jul 31, 2012, 11:38 AM EDT

Thank Goodness for irishpjk/ssdd and ALL other informed people to speak out to help on this sad event for The Quinn Family. Can "Irish Central" use their influence and lobby the Irish Government to refer the whole sad saga to The European Courts - I do hope you can. The power of the press is a useful tool. Please Help if you can. And in the meantime The Court Order jailing them should be suspended.

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irishpjk | Jul 30, 2012, 10:59 PM EDT

wtf It’s great to see the people who know the Quinn family come out to speak the truth about their business. However it is sad that so many of your readers are clueless about what happened. When the banks folded the people investigating the banks jumped to the conclusion that Quinn did not have enough capital to cover what could become his debts. They refused to listen to the man’s explanations, end result people started to pull away from his business. Had Quinn been left in charge of his company and allowed time to make necessary changes his company could be on solid footing today and most of his employees would still have jobs and be paying taxes instead of drawing social welfare. That’s why so many people are standing behind Mr. Quinn.

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noreendelargy | Jul 30, 2012, 07:40 PM EDT

ssdd I agree with your comments. I do not know of many bankers (if any) that have been prosecuted for their wrong doing - even some of the politicians are also without their share of blame. This whole sad saga should be referred to The European Courts for an Independent Judgement. Then if this court finds The Quinn Family guilty every fair minded citizen will back this decision. What I and thousands of other people can not agree with is the illegal take over of Quinn Direct and Quinn Healtcare. Both of these successful businesses could have traded their way out of deficit and the Irish taxpayer would not be burdened with this debt. Thank goodness there are good people like ssdd to try to get a balnced viewpoint across. Independent Judgement and Fair Play is not too much to ask.

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seanomelb | Jul 30, 2012, 06:22 PM EDT

Cavan! if QUINN IS THE BEST THEY CAN OFFER WHAT CAN ONE SAY.

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sparticusnorth | Jul 30, 2012, 05:28 PM EDT

A GATHERING OF PAPAL KNIGHTS LED THE PEOPLE OF CAVAN AND BEYOND , THEY DIDNT RALLY WHEN FATHER BRENDAN SMYTH SEXUALLY ABUSED THEIR CHILDREN-- FROM THAT ROTTEN COMPOUND IN CAVAN OR IN THE DAYS OF CHILD ABUSER BISHOP MC QUIAD ?

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ssdd | Jul 30, 2012, 02:48 PM EDT

HOW MANY BANKERS are being hounded and imprisoned in the same fashion? Google and look to how Iceland is dealing with them and they are better of for it! WHAT A LOAD OF S***T we have been spun from our politicians who let this S***T happen in the first place. Obviously the information given about ANGLO IRISH to Sean Quinn and the other investor’s was NEGLIGENTLY and CRIMININALLY forwarded to the ten investors. ALSO HAVE these bankers profited from the deal they seem to have dishonestly set up to prop up Anglo shares? I believe more is still to come out. Shame on the Irish Government to scapegoat this self made entrepreneur, someone who could have sustained and created new jobs. Something Ireland and the twats in Westminster and Stormont are trying to create!

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dingle999 | Jul 30, 2012, 02:04 PM EDT

noreendelargy : "The Quinn Family deserve justice." Are you **** joking ? The Irish people / the Irish justice system deserves justice

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Happyhippo | Jul 30, 2012, 01:24 PM EDT

Hey,I have an idea,why don't the Quinn family be responsible for their own actions,nobody forced them to take loans of millions from Anglo and invest or gamble on various enterprises which turned sour,i assume the supporters at the weekend meeting are prepared to bail out the Quinn's, because the taxpayers most certainly are'nt

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butlerreport | Jul 30, 2012, 01:02 PM EDT

In the U.S. he would have been charged and jailed for insider trading of bank stocks. He attempted to make easy money by investing in Anglo stock hoping for a rise in price. When that didn't happen he chased it with more money. The bank lent money to 'the 10' in an effort to fool the market that the stock was on an upward tick to stimulate public interest that would have let Quinn bail out. It didn't work - it was a criminal enterprise and now he has to pay the consequences, family and all. The good thing is, he can start again and this time do it the way he should have, through honest work and skip the short cuts. Why he's not in jail speaks to the power of contacts within the judicial system.

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EamonnDublin | Jul 30, 2012, 10:45 AM EDT

The Irish peasant attitude is alive and well and marching in support of their "betters" in Cavan last night. Sad. Very sad. Ireland will simply HAVE to get away from this carry on. We also display a ridiculous (and similar) character trait when we elect to Dáil Éireann some gombeen who has been kicked out of his/her political party for wrongdoing - he/she normally tops the poll by a mile as an Independent in the next election. Sad. Even sadder. Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.

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mcdolan | Jul 30, 2012, 10:27 AM EDT

I do not deny the fact that Sean Quinn knew or should have known that borrowing money from a bank in which you intend to buy shares is illegal and unethical. HOWEVER,it is apparent to me that Sean Quinn and the Quinn family are scapegoats in this fiasco. Anglo gets a slap on the wrist for enticing commission of an illegal act and nearly single-handedly causing the bank collapse, while the Quinns are persecuted? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I don't blame the Quinns for trying to save some of what they built. They are losing their personal assets while the €2.3 bilion is owed by the Quinn corporation, not by the Quinns personally. I do believe that as a matter of principle Sean Quinn, had he been left Quinn Healthcare, would have paid back the loan amount in some manner, shape or form. Talk about kicking a man when he's down? The Irish courts seem to be very choosy about who they prosecute!

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MichaelMcGrath | Jul 30, 2012, 10:17 AM EDT

Mr. Justice Peter Kelly is a most honourable man. He is a professional, he is completely neutral and his feelings do not come into it. Yet he condemned Sean Quinn more than any other person who ever came before him in his career in that court. Quinn's crime is that he fraudulently built up Anglo's shares so that any unfortunate coming along might buy them in the mistaken belief that they were worth anything, conned by Quinn. Now if Fr. D'Arcy, who I know a long time ( since 1980) can look me in the eye and tell me that's fine...

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