Most employees ‘want Quinn sale to go ahead’

MOST of Quinn Insurance’s 1,600 employees are anxious its proposed sale to US insurer Liberty Mutual goes ahead because they believe it will safeguard their livelihoods, the High Court was told yesterday.

However, two groups representing a number of Quinn policyholders and others expressed concerns the deal would involve the transfer to Liberty of parts of the business only, plus only the employees attached to those parts, while the taxpayer would be left to fund the “husk” of the business for years to come.

Both groups — Concerned Irish Citizens (CIC) and Concerned Irish Business (CIB) — submitted that the High Court had not been given enough information about the deal by the insurer’s joint administrators. Their lawyers have asked the court to direct that sufficient information be given to the court, including details of an assets purchase agreement (APA).