An organisation representing the Border region today said it would not tolerate "injustices" being perpetrated on the area following the takeover of the Quinn Group by Anglo Irish Bank.
A delegation from the Cavan-Fermanagh-Leitrim Border Area Community Action Group this morning met Anglo Irish Bank chairman Alan Dukes to discuss the recent takeover of the group by the bank and the future for the Quinn Group and its workforce.
Speaking after the meeting, action group spokesman Padraig Donohue said: "We went into the meeting not expecting too much, and that's exactly what we got back," adding Mr Dukes listened and took notes as delegation members put their cases "very forcibly".
He said the six-member delegation spent two hours with Mr Dukes, during which members put forward concerns over the removal of Seán Quinn and his board and their belief there was a middle management team more suited to running the group than those brought in.
The action group also raised its concerns over the amount of equity that was left in the Quinn Group and the ability of the group of companies to pay off its loans. "We feel he [Mr Dukes] has given too much to the bondholders."
Mr Donohue said the former Fine Gael leader indicated he would contact Paul O'Brien, the CEO of Quinn Group, and meet the Border organisation again.
Earlier today, in a statement, Mr Donohue said it had "major difficulties in accepting the validity of the commitment given by Anglo Irish," which he described as a "State-owned toxic bank, a bank which posted a loss of €17.7 billion in 2010, the largest loss in Irish corporate history".
His organisation is seeking a written guarantee from Mr Dukes that the jobs of all the employees in the Quinn Group on both sides of the Border are "fully guaranteed".
“We will not accept the injustices being perpetrated on our area and the threats to our economy and our communities, as a result of this ill-considered action taken on April 14th, 2011, by this toxic bank and its cohorts. We, the people of this Border region, have no intention of going back to the ‘eviction’ politics of a previous century,” Mr Donohue said.
On Friday, Quinn Group workers seeking the reinstatement of Mr Quinn were told by Taoiseach Enda Kenny yesterday the situation had “gone beyond that”.
Earlier this month, it emerged a joint venture between US insurance giant Liberty Mutual and Anglo Irish Bank is to take over the Quinn Group’s general insurance business.
