BUSINESSMAN SEAN QUINN has condemned as “barbaric” the assault of a Quinn Industrial Holdings director, but also fears his family will be blamed for the incident.
Gardaí and PSNI are investigating after Kevin Lunney was abducted near his home in Derrylin in Fermanagh on Tuesday evening.
The company director was taken to another location and attacked before being dumped on the side of a road in Cavan with what are being described as “life-changing” injuries a number of hours later.
Speaking to local radio station Northern Sound this morning, Quinn hit out at those responsible for the attack.
“My reaction would be the same as anybody else: it would be a sense of outrage. It would appear to me to be a fairly barbaric attack,” he said.
“Any proper individual, anybody with any sense or morals, would of course condemn that. That man has a wife and kids and of course, you’d condemn it totally.”
Quinn was previously listed as the richest Irishman in history, with a wealth of around €4.7 billion, before his company collapsed. He said that his family had raised concerns with him that they would be seen as responsible for the violence.
“My family has been on and they’re outraged as well,” he told Northern Sound.
“They’ve been on to me [that] we’re going to take the flak for this, and that we are being blamed for this, and that some people will look in our direction at it.”
Quinn Industrial Holdings said in a statement yesterday that the attack follows previous intimidation, physical assaults and arson attacks at or near the homes or businesses of its senior staff.
Although he was previously employed by the company as a consultant, Quinn has not had any involvement with Quinn Industrial Holdings since 2015.
TheJournal.ie understands that Gardaí and PSNI, who are working together on the case, are treating dissident republicanism as a line of inquiry.
Officers are seeking information on a Silver BMW which was seen in and around the Stragowna Road area of Derrylin on Wednesday evening.
They are also seeking information on a black Audi saloon seen driving away from Stragowna Road at speed the same evening.
Quinn brought jobs and prosperity to the area from the beginning of his business in 1973, before the company collapsed during the economic downturn.
The former billionaire from Derrylin went bankrupt with huge debts resulting from massive shares in Anglo-Irish Bank.
The attack was condemned by politicians on both sides of the border yesterday.
Business Minister Heather Humphreys, the Fine Gael TD for Cavan-Monaghan, said she was horrified by the news of the attack and urged anyone with information to contact authorities.
“This type of intimidation is despicable and needs to be eradicated from our society,” she said.
“My thoughts are with his family and friends and I wish him a full and speedy recovery.”
With reporting from Dominic McGrath and Sean Murray.
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