Confusion over Quinn comeback

Authority (MFSA) has this week dismissed reports that Sean Quinn Jnr has a Malta-based licence for a prospective new insurance company, Q2. Despite this a number of executives close to Sean Quinn Jnr this week declined to comment on rumours that moves are underway to get the new insurance company up and running. A report in the Sunday Independent speculated that the so called new Q2 Insurance would rival Quinn Insurance and added that it is believed that the new venture will be headed up by Sean Quinn Jnr and former Quinn and P Elliott & Co executive, Dave Mackey. It further reported that the parties involved had developed a highly efficient software program, which will aid the company's entry to the market. It also speculated that a deal had been done with the multinational Swiss company Re and that Q2 had lodged sufficient funds to purchase 're-insurance' from this firm. Contrary to the report, MFSA chairman Joseph Bannister said this week that the regulator had not received an application from Q2 and furthermore there was no licensed insurer under the name P Elliott & Co. The reports have also been discounted by Dave Mackey as having no foundation. It was confirmed, however, that the Cavan based building firm P. Elliott & Co had applied for a licence in 2007 but abandoned the process in 2009 due to the economic downturn. "You cannot buy a licence in Malta. Any licence granted would require extensive due diligence and the MFSA is in regular contact with other regulators," said Mr. Bannister. in Belturbet when Sean Quinn and former executives of the Quinn Group Kevin Lunney and Dara O'Reilly were seen going to and from offices at a disused factory in Creeny, Belturbet, over the past six weeks. Local speculation has been rife that apart from the prospective tyre treading operation at the Belturbet premises, the Quinns and senior executives may have a few cards up their sleeves on the insurance front. The plot thickens given that a prompt for a WIFI network called 'Q2' pops up on smart phones and laptops in close proximity to the factory premises in Belturbet. However a search on the Companies Registration Office website reveals that there is no business or company currently registered as Q2. Strongly refuting the weekend's reports, Mr Mackey clarified: "We never actually got a licence from Malta in P Elliott & Company. We got a letter of intent from the Regulator in Malta, then the crash came and then we were not able to go ahead with the project." When contacted by The Anglo-Celt this week, both Kevin Lunney and Dara O'Reilly declined to comment on the Sunday Independent article.