Quinn committed to securing local jobs

Quinn Insurance continues to dominate national newspaper headlines with Sean Quinn, the founder and Chairman of the Quinn Group, stressing in an exclusive interview with The Anglo-Celt that Quinn Insurance will prevail over its current challenges and remain a vital part of the family-owned group of companies. Mr. Quinn, who was interviewed by Anglo-Celt journalist, Sean McMahon, expressed confidence that the Quinn Group will come up with a constructive plan, which will safeguard all the jobs in this area and get Quinn Insurance moving forward once again in a positive fashion. Mr. Quinn again emphasised that Quinn Insurance was a very profitable company with €230 million spare cash above all costs and claims and it was totally unnecessary for it to be put into administration. However, he didn't see the removal of the administrators as the most important immediate objective, stating that he and the Quinn Group were working towards the more long-term task of getting the company back into the full ownership of the Quinn Group and the Quinn family. "We are not pushing at this stage for a quick solution over the two or three week period. We want to come up with the right solution - the right answers and to get trading again as soon as possible in the UK and Northern Ireland," he said. If business in the UK is not resumed by next week, Mr. Quinn says there will inevitably be lay offs.Sean Quinn expressed his deep gratitude for the level of public support for the company and its employees right across the country but particularly in Cavan, Fermanagh and Monaghan. While he acknowledged the importance of returning Quinn Insurance to the Quinn family he said that the most important element for him was the preservation of the Quinn Insurance and Quinn Group jobs in this area. "What would be more hurtful to me personally is the number of jobs that were created in the area for the last 30 years and to see them being lost. That would be a bigger problem for me than it would to have a few pound extra," said the Quinn Group Chairman. Meanwhile the Financial Regulator's application to have two joint administrators to the Quinn Insurance Group confirmed by the High Court was adjourned for a week when it came up on Monday in the High Court. At Monday's hearing, Mr. John Hennessy SC for the Regulator told the President of the High Court, Mr. Justice Nicholas Kierans, that his client was seeking an adjournment because it wished to respond to a lengthy affidavit filed on behalf of the company. Mr. Michael Cush SC, for Quinn, said that the company was consenting to the adjournment.Mr. Justice Kierans directed that the provisional administrators remain in place until the full hearing next Monday. The difficulties at Quinn Insurance have driven the politicians from this region into crisis mode over the past week with meetings held with Ministers from the Republic and Northern Ireland to try and find a way out of this challenging situation. The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Brendan Smith, re-iterated the need "to protect employment in the Quinn Group, meet regulatory requirements and safeguard the taxpayers' interests". More in this week's Anglo-Celt...