Judge backs IBRC in Quinn case

A judge ruled today that former billionaire Sean Quinn was not entitled to file for bankruptcy in the North.

This follows a legal challenge by the Anglo Irish bank which claimed he should be declared bankrupt in the Republic of Ireland, where it is seeking to recover billions in debt from the businessman.

The lender, now rebranded the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), argued that the 65-year-old’s “centre of main interest” is south of the border.

Mr Justice Donal Deeny, sitting in the High Court in Belfast, ruled in favour of the bank.

The businessman’s multibillion-euro empire collapsed over the last two years on the back of massive stock market gambles on the share price of Anglo.

Since Mr Quinn asked to be declared bankrupt in Belfast in November, he has been hit with two separate judgments of €1.74bn and €416m by the Commercial Court in Dublin over loans from Anglo.

Justice Deeny said: ``I hereby annul the bankruptcy order of November 11 2011, obtained by Sean Quinn, on the ground that it should not have been made as the centre of the debtor's main interests was not in Northern Ireland at the time of bringing the petition but within the jurisdiction of the High Court in Dublin.''

He ordered that Mr Quinn pay the legal costs of both the bank and the Official Receiver.

Mr Quinn lost all control of his business in April.

Outside the court Mr Quinn denied he had ever sought to mislead anyone and said he had always worked in Northern Ireland and had never used his home, just south of the border, as an office.

“I must have got half a dozen offers of leased premises within days of the receiver going in there (to take over his former Quinn Group headquarters in Derrylin).

“I never done a day’s work from southern Ireland in my life. I never done a day’s work in my home. I never had any computers, I never had any IT system. Everything was always done from Derrylin,” he said.

“There was never any question of me deceiving the court and there was never any need for me to deceive the court.”

Asked if he now expected to be made bankrupt in the Republic of Ireland, as the bank has requested, he said he did not know.

“The bankruptcy is just a deflection of what’s going on here,” he added.

Mr Quinn dismissed the legal action by the bank, arguing it was irrelevant whether he was declared bankrupt in the north or the south.

The former tycoon, who had international business interests in cement, insurance, glass and property, said he was being scapegoated by the bank which he said had presided over historic losses.

“The decision today is a no brainer – there’s nothing to it,” he said.

He added: “Whether I am bankrupt in Northern Ireland or southern Ireland - it’s a joke.

“What these people want to do is deflect the main interest ... This thing here is only a sham.”

Before his downfall, his story was a classic rags-to-riches tale.

He began his career with a £100 loan to dig gravel on his father’s farm.

At the height of his success, the man dubbed “The Mighty Quinn” was worth a reputed €4.72bn