Sean Quins Monstrous Home in County Cavan
Former billionaire Sean Quinn today declared himself bankrupt at Belfast’s High Court.
It took the County Fermanagh figure, once Ireland’s richest man, 30 years to amass a billion pound fortune in glass, cement, hotels, insurance and a multitude of other business interests after starting out extracting gravel on the family farm in Derrylin in 1973 — and just 15 minutes to go bust this morning.
A court declaration signalled a drastic change in fortune for a renowned figure who was the island’s wealthiest businessman up until just three years ago.
When you borrow £2.8 bn to from Anglo Irish Bank and them use the money to become the largest shareholder of that bank and buy a string of properties around the world you are asking for trouble, especially when that bank collapses under the weight of property debts has to be nationalised render the shares much less than the value of the loan.
