‘Welcome to jail’ cheer for Quinn at training unit

Seán Quinn Jr got a “welcome to jail” cheer when he arrived into the Mountjoy training unit canteen at lunchtime on Saturday.

Prison sources said the hundred-plus inmates in the canteen gave the Cavan man a rousing reception when he joined the food queue.

Mr Quinn apparently “didn’t bat an eyelid” as the roar reverberated through the dinning hall, sources said.

He was moved from Mountjoy Jail on Saturday morning after spending the night there and was transferred to the safer and more open surroundings of the training unit.

The unit is in the Mountjoy complex and is a low-security jail mainly used as a pre-release centre for prisoners, preparing them for life outside.

The Irish Examiner understands he was put into the training unit as a double cell had become available.

Sources stressed it was not “special treatment” and the other bed in the cell would be filled when the next inmate arrives in.

Mr Quinn got a big reception in the canteen when he appeared for his main meal at lunchtime.

“There was about 100 inmates there and he got a big huge yup roar, a welcome to jail thing,” said one prison source.

But the businessman — who is serving a three-month sentence for contempt of court — was not fazed. “He took it all in his stride, didn’t bat an eyelid,” said the insider.

“He got his grub, sat down on the next available seat and carried on.”

The training unit is described officially as a semi-open prison offering training and education to inmates during the day.

“It’s more like a normalised working day than in other prisons,” said a source. “It’s like an 8am to 5pm working day — have breakfast, do your work and training, break for dinner and work and training in the afternoon.”

He said Mr Quinn was due to decide today what training he would take up.

Options include a fabric course, computers, woodwork, and other trades.

Mr Quinn is obliged to take part in training. He has recreation time in the evening, after tea, and can choose from the gym, the recreation hall, and the library.

Inmates are locked up in their cells at 9.30pm, two hours later than in closed prisons.

Sources said he can write as many letters as he likes and is entitled to one or two visits a week and one personal phone call a week, depending on the discretion of the governor.

He can make as many phone calls as needed with his lawyers.

Meanwhile, gardaí are on standby for the return of Peter Quinn — nephew of Seán Quinn Sr — to the Republic to serve his three-month sentence for contempt.