Chief Supt Alan McGovern

‘There are consequences to actions’

The region’s top cop has warned anyone threatening violence or any escalation of harassment and intimidation against local firm Mannok, formerly Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH), as well as its employees and senior managers, to remember “there are consequences to actions”.

Chief Superintendent over Cavan-Monaghan-Louth Alan McGovern issued the censure following reports that information was received in the past week of a potential “credible” fresh threat in the offing.

The ongoing security operation on both sides of the Border around senior Mannok figures has been ramped up.

In September 2019, Kevin Lunney was kidnapped and brutally attacked in an incident that left him scarred for life. Since then, security has been tight around Mr Lunney, his fellow directors, Liam McCaffrey, Dara O’Reilly, and others.

It’s understood that the authorities received what is being described locally as “reliable intelligence” that some senior management figures were to be singled out for attack.

In 2018 QIH chief finance officer Mr O’Reilly’s car was set alight outside his Butlersbridge home, while a business in Belturbet owned by one of QIH’s senior managers was also the subject of an arson attack.

Chief Supt McGovern confirmed that the force south of the Border is “continuing to work collaboratively” with their colleagues in the PSNI as part of an ongoing and focused criminal investigation into alleged criminal activity in Cavan and wider border region.

Titled ‘Operation Larissa’, he says that a “number” of files are currently with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) arising out of investigations that have taken place to date, and hinted at further charges.

On the steps of the Central Criminal Court, following convictions handed down to three men connected with the kidnap and assault of Kevin Lunney, Chief Supt McGovern stated that the investigation “is not over”.

He reiterated that sentiment when speaking to The Anglo-Celt earlier this week.

“We continue to work collaboratively with our colleagues in the PSNI as we do in any cross-border operation. We’d urge anyone thinking about engaging in any such form of criminality to think again, and to consider the consequences of their actions. There are consequences, as highlighted in the sentencing that took place in the Central Criminal Court and elsewhere.

“This investigation is still very much ongoing. A number of files have been forwarded to the DPP and we await the outcome of those.”

RTÉ documentary

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that RTÉ has once again paused plans to broadcast a documentary series focusing on former Derrylin billionaire Sean Quinn and his business empire.

The three-part series, Quinn Country, was scheduled to air back in January this year, but held off over fears it might lead to an escalation in violence and compromise the safety of Mannok directors, their families, and the company as a whole.

Separately Mannok recently secured an injunction against Mr Quinn in the High Court in Dublin preventing him from trespassing on lands owned by the company.