The sight of Ireland’s richest man just two years ago being declared bankrupt in a Dublin court is a very striking one.
Sean Quinn, worth $4 billion at his height, typifies and magnifies what happened to so many Irish people during the height of the boom years followed by the spectacular bust.
Quinn was a massive employer through his Quinn Insurance company located in one of Ireland’s poorest rural areas.
A self-made man with swagger, he typified the era of the Celtic Tiger, moving from deal to deal with seemingly unblemished success.
His downfall was as unexpected as it was dramatic. He essentially gambled on Anglo Irish Bank shares at a time when those shares were about to plummet to zero.
-------------------
Read more:
More Irish business news from IrishCentral
Irish American wife charged with slaying husband’s mistress- VIDEO
Ireland’s Rubberbandit’s en route to the Craic Festival New York City - VIDEOS
-------------------
Quinn’s downfall has its tragic overtones too. For many in rural areas his company was their only mainstay, especially as the economy turned.
Then for some unknown reason, arrogance, greed, or maybe both he took the incredible punt on the shares of Anglo Irish Bank and lost everything.
There should be no satisfaction, however, at Quinn’s downfall. The task of job creation in Ireland has never been more difficult, and men like Quinn, despite their downfall, were powerful figures for good in their local rural communities.
At his height Quinn provided thousands of well paying jobs for Irish people.
Now his downfall has featured in the lead of The New York Times business section amid allegations that he is concealing great wealth overseas. Quinn himself says he has only a few hundred thousand left in bank accounts and pension entitlements.
He is surely the highest profile casualty of the Irish economic crash, but it is foolish to celebrate his collapse and to forget the thousands who are affected by it.
Quinn accused the former Anglo Irish Bank of a vendetta against him in pursuing its claims that he repay $2.7 billion in loans which he clearly cannot do.
“They have ensured that I will never create another job,” he stated.
The bank is now the masked avenger chasing Quinn and former CEO David Drumm all over the world.
hile there may be some psychic satisfaction for the Irish public in doing so, the facts are that both men are hardly worth the candle at this point, given the massive losses the bank itself endured during the height of its folly.
4 Comments
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.joycean | Jan 19, 2012, 10:29 AM EST
Irish bankruptcy must be different from American. In this country, people file bankruptcy as protection from creditors. It is the final step. So if the court has questions about wealth, that is determined before the filing. Unless the money was obtained fraudulently, debt is simply wiped out, and the person gets a fresh start. It is a blemish on his credit rating for 7 years, but creditors can no longer hound him. Quinn should come to this country.
bimjimmy | Jan 19, 2012, 09:33 AM EST
I wonder where he will pop up next, feet up on the low patio wall of a beach villa in the sun - somewhere which doesn't have extradition treaty with the UK? If he was smart enough to scam any financial institution out of Billions, then he was smart enough to make "contingency" plans. He ought to be watched - and made a prime example of, as should ALL scammers and white collar criminals. Too many of these "financial wizards" are getting off free of penalty, leaving millions of poor and middle class working people with much higher bills or even bankrupt without pensions. Maybe it's time to examine the accounts and practices of the entire greedy 1%?
BARNEYKX | Jan 19, 2012, 07:28 AM EST
Bankruptancy is just another form of money laundering,its rife in ireland
CaptainCon | Jan 19, 2012, 01:56 AM EST
Sean Quinn bankrupted himself by pure greed. There is some point in chasing down where the 200million euro he placed in his children's 'individual wealth portfolios' in 2008 came from- paricularly when Irish car insurance policies are now burdened with a surcharge to cover the hole in Quinn Group's accounts. There is plenty of evidence to say that this man and his family have hidden considerable wealth overseas and those assets should be owned by his creditors. The difference between Quinn and the average struggling Irish taxpayer is that the latter has no choice in trying to evade creditors- Quinn does. Would you have suggested letting Bernard Madoff off the hook?