Some points about the Sean Quinn saga;
1) the Quinns are not facing jail for their involvement with Anglo Irish bank they are facing prison for their flagrant contempt for the rule of law. They were subjects of a court order which they very publicly & deliberately flouted with elements in various Eastern European countries whom, I think it is fair to assume are not the most upstanding citizens of those jurisdictions.
2) the Quinns involvement in Anglo Irish bank was not as a result of public spiritedness but was instead motivated by a desire for profit but was IN FACT a gamble with what was it has since transpired NOT their own wealth as Sean Quinn & his apologists in the media & elsewhere like to portray it. The resources he used to gamble with his mates in Anglo was monies he had ALREADY promised as collateral for his Quinns Insurance business i.e. it was resources mandated in law to protect the cars, houses & futures of millions of ordinary people both here in Ireland & the UK. by gambling it & losing he IN FACT insured that anyone of his policy holders who needed to make a claim was unlikely to receive a reimbursement of the monies they had already paid to Mr Quinn his family i.e. he cheated ordinary people who had placed their trust in him. This is deception number ONE.
3) When the UK financial regulator became aware of this fraudulent conduct by Mr Quinn it quite rightly put the business into receivership at least in part to safeguard the property & livelihood of ordinary people from further risks by the Quinns. Quinn & his apologists both his local ‘friends’ & Irish media sought to portray Quinns as the victims of British perfidy & cited his job-creation credentials (more on this later).
4) he was then declared bankrupt in an attempt to salvage as much of his personal fortune as he could. Also at this time as a result of the bank guarantee IBRC sought to recover as much of it’s outstanding credit as possible i.e. to reduce the amount which we Irish taxpayers have to pay for the gambling of Quinn among others. in order to help achieve this IBRC sought court orders to stop the Quinn family dodging their liabilities by ‘hiding’ their liabilities in ways which would frustrate the ability of IBRC to recoup what was owed to them & by extension to us the Irish taxpayers. This is deception NUMBER TWO.
4) during the period when they were under court orders NOT to dispose of their assets the Quinns quite deliberately did so, thus actively defrauding their fellow citizens. And perhaps more damagingly Darragh Quinn was caught on tape bragging about his intention to lie under oath. They were subsequently summoned to the courts to explain their behaviour and duly found to be in contempt of court & given 2 weeks to purge their contempt i.e. to obey the rule of law like every other citizen is expected to do. This they failed to do thus quite reasonably the two younger Quinns were jailed for their failure to comply ( and Darragh Quinn didn’t even have the guts & decency to turn up in court to face the consequences of his actions). Sean Quinn Snr was allowed to stay out of jail to attempt to set matters right. He chose instead to justify his lawbreaking 7 contempt for the rule of law and worse sought to protray himself as the victim in all this. This is deception NUMBER THREE.
5) in his media pronouncements on this he has NEVER been challenged on his version of events by a complicit Irish Media (despite the same media calling for heads to roll, people to be brought to book over the Anglo debacle and lamenting the attitude of the Irish elites to their liabilities vis-a-vis the Irish legal system. How often have you heard the statement ‘nobody in the inner circle is ever brought to court in this country’? Well here is a case of someone who has been, who has been caught in flagrant breaches of the law & yet the media & his supporters are only too quick to portray him as the victim. This is deception NUMBER 4.
6) in Sean Quinn’s defence we hear his job-creation credentials put forward as somehow mitigating his law-breaking, cavalier attitude to those whose insurance premiums he fraudulently accepted & imposition of higher costs on us the ordinary Irish taxpayer who has to pick up the tab over the wealth he has secreted away. In response to this spurious defence of Mr Quinn how many jobs would I have to create to mitigate my stealing your purse or TV? This is deception NUMBER 5.
7) the GAA is part funded by the Irish taxpayer. We the Irish taxpayer are facing higher charges in part due to the activities of the very Darragh Quinn who they quite happily embraced. I for one think this is disgraceful behaviour and want my share of my taxes which went to those officials and clubs who have backed this law-breaker refunded so I can more easily cover my day-to-day expenses.
8) how many of those backing the Quinns & their deceptions have been campaigning against the Eurozone in the recent referenda? Why is this relevant? The EU & euro-zone have created many times more jobs & wealth in this country especially in rural Ireland via the CAP & related policies & structural funds…So on the one hand we have people supporting a law-breaker on the basis of his job-creation & support for his local credentials whilst AT THE SAME TIME campainging against one of the major sources of job-creation & community support on the island…deception NUMBER 6.
9) Law & order does NOT depend on the numbers of Gardai on the streets, nor solely on likelihood of being caught if I commit a crime. Rather law & order relies on the belief of ordinary people that the system works & is fair, equitable and enforced without fear or favour. Which is why it is of crucial importance that public breaches of the law are punished with the full force of the law. In which case why have the PSNI not been asked to apprehend Darragh Quinn and hand him over to the Gardai? If he were any other criminal this would have been done already. If the Irish legal system is to have ANY credibility Darragh Quinn must be arrested and sanctioned for his arrogant & flagrant disdain of due process … and the media has to decide whether it wishes a society were we observe the rule of law or it wishes a society of untouchables and no-go areas.
rantindave 