Company at centre of dispute with Seán Quinn expresses ‘safety’ concerns

The company at the centre of a bitter dispute with Seán Quinn has expressed “safety” concerns after the former billionaire said he remains determined to remove key directors from the business.

Mr Quinn criticised Mannok directors in a weekend interview published days after the Special Criminal Court convicted three men for the 2019 abduction and assault of Kevin Lunney, a senior management figure in the company.

The attack on Mr Lunney came amid a wave of death threats, violence and sabotage against the business known for years as Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH).

Mr Quinn denies any involvement in the kidnapping or the campaign of intimidation, but told the Sunday Independent that he still wanted directors removed.

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“I will do anything I can do in my power to get those boys out,” he said.

Asked whether it had any response to his remarks, Mannok said: “From a safety perspective his comments are concerning but we remain encouraged at the commitment of police services north and south to identify the paymaster and those doing the paymaster’s bidding.”

Mannok has always blamed a shadowy “paymaster” for orchestrating the campaign against it.

‘Baseless’ allegations

Mr Quinn declined to comment when contacted on Sunday, saying he would not speak by phone with reporters. Asked specifically whether his comments about removing “those boys” might raise any safety concerns given all that had happened, he insisted he had nothing to say.

Mr Lunney is a member of the group that took over the former QIH when Mr Quinn lost control of his business empire after the crash. He left the company in 2016, saying he was sacked, but later tried to go back. The company has previously blamed people “who had sought the return of Seán Quinn” for the campaign of intimidation.

Mannok has accused Mr Quinn of repeatedly making “baseless” allegations against the business, saying this weekend that such claims “only serve to undermine his condemnation of those engaged in intimidation and violence who evidently are sympathetic of his views”.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris indicated in recent days that files will be sent within weeks to the Director of Public Prosecutions as efforts continue to charge people suspected of directing the attack on Mr Lunney in 2019.

Three men were convicted last week of abducting and intentionally causing serious harm to Mr Lunney. A fourth man was acquitted.

*Article amended to correct spelling of Mannok at 9.25am on November 15th, 2021