Developer claims crash forced him to leave Ireland

One of Ireland’s wealthiest boom-time developers and key Anglo customers has insisted “I too lost” because the crash forced him to emigrate to Switzerland and Abu Dhabi to repay debts.

Derek Quinlan made the claim as he admitted he stopped investing in Irish property by 2003 – but he refused to accept a property bubble existed.

The man dubbed “Europe’s realty tsar” by US media told the bank inquiry that after the crash KPMG told him to live abroad to “maximise” debt repayments.