SUPPORT:ORDINARY PEOPLE in the Border counties of Fermanagh and Cavan feel the Quinns have been "unjustly treated", Tom Boyle, secretary of the Fermanagh GAA county board, said yesterday.
“There would be widespread sympathy among the GAA for the Quinns’ enormous contribution to this area. They have created jobs, keeping young people in the area, when no government agency, on either side of the Border, was doing that.”
Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh-South Tyrone Tom Elliott said people needed to remember the facts.
“It’s clear that the Quinns enjoy a degree of support within the local community but there is a legal process in play here and it must be followed,” he said.
Alma Kinnear, a businesswoman in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh, said local opinion was divided. “It’s very sad to see the Quinns being abused when there are people who have done a hell of a lot worse walking free. Everything the Quinns did was done properly. None of their businesses ever failed. It was quality all the way.” she said.
Lord Morrow, the DUP MLA for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, said everyone needed to be equal under the law.
“Regardless of the jobs created through Quinn companies . . . it is a very dangerous situation where people are treated differently by the law as a result of their status in society,” he said.
Fermanagh Enterprise chief executive John Treacy said the Quinn family had been “scapegoated” and should have been given a chance to put their seven-year recovery plan into action.
“Seán Quinn transformed the economic and social landscape in what was a deprived Border area. He has been exceptionally loyal to his workforce,” he said.