Ruling means former insurance chief set to face longer bar from business
Sean Quinn will no longer be able to return to business in a year’s time, following a court ruling.
According to reports, Belfast High Court has overturned the Quinn Insurance founder’s UK bankruptcy status in Northern Ireland.
The ruling means he now faces the prospect of bankruptcy under Republic of Ireland rules, which would ban him from returning to business for up to 12 years as opposed to the UK, where he could have been trading again after a year.
The former Anglo Irish Bank, which claims it is owed €2.8bn (£2.3bn) by Quinn, argued that the core of Quinn’s business interests were in the Irish Republic and not in the UK.
Quinn had initially declared himself bankrupt in a Belfast court last November, on the grounds that he was operating in Northern Ireland from an office in his home town of Fermanagh.
Mr Justice Donal Deeny found that a lease for an office in Derrylin, Fermanagh, had been drawn up to “bolster” Quinn’s claim, and that his centre of interest before bankruptcy was, in fact, in the Republic of Ireland where he had his home and offices.
According to the reports, Deeny said it was likely that any future bankruptcy action by Quinn would be referred to him.
Quinn Insurance collapsed into administration nearly two years ago.
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