Legendary status remains intact in border heartland

THE legendary status of Seán Quinn remains intact in the border counties where he built his empire.

Community leaders and businessmen credited the entrepreneur with doing the work of government, by creating industry, jobs and wealth in a rural community that previously felt overlooked.

There was praise for the legacy of the Quinn family in their native Derrylin and fears that despite the pledges to protect jobs, no one will show the same loyalty to Fermanagh and surrounding counties as the Quinns have done.

Lauri McCusker, director of the Fermanagh Trust community development organisation, said the Quinn family businesses helped revitalise the area.

“The Quinn Group and the Quinn family, through their business and their entrepreneurial spirit, have created a social, community and economic infrastructure here which has been the backbone of community life,” he said.

“It has attracted people to this area, and it has helped this area to expand and the benefits have been felt over a wide area.”

Sean Doonan, a businessman based in Derrylin also praised the contribution of the Quinn family.

He said there were concerns over whether jobs would be protected in the long-term. “Seán Quinn and the Quinn family have had huge loyalty to this area. People will worry whether that will be the case in the future as they leave the businesses.”

He also echoed the belief of others in the region that Seán Quinn was being made a “scapegoat” for the Republic’s economic ills, when many others appeared to be going untouched.

The Patrick Blake Group, which has been in business in Derrylin and the surrounding area since 1887, also praised the Quinn contribution.

Pat Blake, who owns a bar on Derrylin’s main street and a soon-to-open £1 million supermarket in the village, said there was admiration for the empire built by the Quinns. “People would also recognise the courage that Seán Quinn would have shown in taking on companies with substantial businesses, such as cement and glass and other various parts of the group, where he would have challenged other major players out there.”