Sean Quinn Launches PR Offensive After Son's Jailing

Notoriously media-shy as he built a business empire which made him Ireland's richest man, Sean Quinn has now launched a massive PR offensive aiming to win public support after a High Court judge found him in contempt of court.

Mr Quinn's son, Sean Jnr, is currently in jail after being found in contempt of court by the High Court for failing to reverse measures that put assets beyond the reach of the state owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.

Mr Quinn's nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, is on-the-run, after failing to turn up in court to face contempt charges.

He is remaining in Fermanagh - north of the border - and outside the reach of Gardai, as he too faces jail for contempt.

Sean Quinn himself has been told by the High Court that he will be jailed if he doesn't reverse moves he and his family made to hide assets from IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank.

Mr Quinn has given interviews to The Mail on Sunday, TV3, RTE Radio and Shannonside/Northern Sound FM.

In them, he has painted the Quinn family as victims, and claimed he could have turned the Quinn Group around if the company hadn't been taken off him in April 2011.

His brother Peter, a former GAA president and father of Peter Darragh, has also given several interviews including to the local Impartial Reporter newspaper in Fermanagh, and BBC Ulster.

He alleged there was a conspiracy against the Quinns involving the Irish government, the IBRC and Department of Finance, who he said needed a scapegoat to blame for everything that went wrong.

Sean Quinn - whose fortune of more than three billion euro made him Ireland's richest man before the economic crash - lost it all on a gamble on Anglo Irish Bank shares.

It left the Quinn family owing well over two billion euros to the former Anglo Irish Bank, which is now nationalized and has been pursuing the Quinns for the money in courtrooms around the world.

Judge Elizabeth Dunne ruled that the men were guilty of putting around €500m out of the reach of Anglo Irish Bank and instructed them to reverse the moves.

Commercial Court Judge Peter Kelly said the schemes which put assets, including valuable shopping centres and apartment blocks in Russia and Ukraine, were of "mesmeric complexity".

But the Quinns have admitted they are doing everything in their power to put the assets they own beyond the reach of the IBRC.

Public opinion in Ireland is divided, with many believing Sean Quinn has been unfairly single out by the authorities.

Around 4,000 people attended a rally in Cavan last week in support of the businessman.

It was attended by several leading figures from the GAA including Tyrone manager

Mickey Harte, who enjoys massive public sympathy after his daughter Michaela's murder in Mauritius and the subsequent failure of police there to prosecute anyone.

Former Meath footballer and RTE TV analyst Colm O'Rourke was also there.

A letter of support from Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary was read out at the rally.

And Fr Brian Darcy, the well known media-friendly priest, also attended.

In a local radio interview in Kerry, Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly, a former president of the GAA, expressed his support for Quinn in his predicament.

However, the GAA has distanced itself from the public displays of support which it said were done in a personal capacity by those involved.

And Fine Gael has cautioned its members to avoid commenting on matters before the court such as the Quinn case.

Meanwhile, Peter Darragh Quinn, who was held in contempt of court in his absence, has been photographed twice attending GAA matches in Fermanagh just across the border from the Republic.

Peter Darragh cannot be arrested in Northern Ireland unless a European Arrest Warrant is issued, and because the contempt is from a civil rather than a criminal case, such a warrant cannot be issued.