Quinn

by Trevor Birney

This is the gripping inside story of Sean Quinn, Ireland’s bankrupt billionaire, who went from rags to riches, then gambled his fortune on Anglo Irish Bank shares and became the world’s biggest personal loser of the economic collapse of 2008.

A millionaire by thirty, Quinn became an almost mythical character, creating thousands of jobs at a time when the shadows of mass unemployment and the Troubles loomed over the Irish borderlands. However, after four decades of unparalleled success, Quinn’s business empire imploded.

The atmosphere in ‘Quinn Country’ turned ominous. Violence and intimidation flourished, helping bring part of his business back under local control, with Quinn as consultant. However, what seemed like a ‘second coming’ soon turned toxic. Rifts in the boardroom between Quinn and his former executives, men he had once prized for their loyalty but now blamed for the loss of his companies, ended with Quinn’s final ousting. Further violence followed, culminating in the horrific attack on his former right-hand man, Kevin Lunney, an event that would end even local support for Quinn. His empire was gone.

This is the truly remarkable story of the man everyone said was too big to fail.

Genres: Biography

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 23, 2022

Reviews

[Jacob Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in a week - found it hard to put down. A good read, like most things on the border, very modern and raw. Because of this, book was more informative than investigative journalism - more interviews (even anoynmous) across the board would have made this come to life. I'll need to watch the RTE doc as a comparison

[Ronan Conroy · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The gripping inside story of Ireland’s bankrupt billionaire, Sean Quinn.”
Gripping, it is not. Quinn made his early fortune in the cement industry, and reading this book feels like wading through wet cement.

Although it informs you with a version of the facts, the overall experience is meandering and repetitive.
Dropping out of school at 11 because he wasn’t interested, he ended up inheriting the family’s subsistence-living farm. Realizing it was worth more as a quarry, he began to expand into the cement and then real estate business, creating jobs in the border region between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and becoming a local hero in the process. While it’s true that Quinn made an astute businessman who built a formidable international empire and amassed a personal fortune, it is also true that he recklessly over-extended himself and gambled on highly risky stock derivatives, ultimately financially ruining himself and his company.

Fast forward to many bitter years of local protests, vandalism, threats and acts of violence by various local factions, all aimed to preventing the state appointed controllers from attempting to recoup some value on behalf of the rest of the Irish taxpayers who were left to foot the bill of the financial meltdown caused in part by the kind of reckless trading Quinn had engaged in. Quinn, like his admirers, have a remarkable ability to not understand the fact that actual money was owed in great amounts, that Quinn was unable to pay it, that illegal and reckless financial actions had been taken for years at his companies, and that the Irish taxpayer was liable to help sort it out. Instead, Fermanagh natives see Quinn as some sort of victim martyr at war with The Man.

This book could probably have been a single twenty-page biopic article without losing any of the key points.

[Thomas Harte · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a thriller however it is very much a work of non fiction. It begins by outlining Quinn’s humble beginnings and how he built up a business empire to become at one point Irelands richest person. It details the dizzying speed of growth in his companies and the almost manic need for diversification. The background to the story is the border region of Cavan and Fermanagh and the employment Quinn created in this region. The first part of the book sets the scene for the what happens next. Quinn loses control of the business after a disastrous and I’ll-advised gamble on contracts for difference (CFD). He could never accept this scenario. What the author shows is someone who had difficulty accepting business advice and drove his business according to instinct. The story ends with shocking levels of sabotage and intimidation, carried out by supporters of Quinn who the author calls ‘The Molly Maguire’s’ and it ends with a truly awful incident of violence perpetrated on one of the executives of the former Quinn business. The book is very well written, full of business facts and well researched. It is a morality tale of success and failure, greed, and gambling on casino capitalism. How one man lost it all and how misguided people tried to force the company back into Quinn hands is gripping stuff. We are left with one outstanding question and that is who was the paymaster who employed those mercenaries to sabotage the company. We will probably never know. Read this book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still admire Sean Quinn for what he done for the Fermanagh/Cavan area. I feel it very sad that the empire he built is now in the hands of foreign investors, but he was a gambler and a bad gambler at that. The bankers left him out to dry. I loved how he built the business, however the second half of the book was way above my head talking in millions and billions.

[Ross Welsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really good book. Went in knowing the basics of the story, but this really opened up into the details. Brilliant writing - a perfect portrayal which sees Quinn as the hero in the first half, before spinning on its head to portray him in a more negative light. Large spells of business nitty gritty going over my head were the only things to bring down the score.

[Aisling Doonan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book, especially as I worked in Quinn Direct and would know a lot of people involved. Some fascinating things that I wouldn't have been aware of at the time. Will take a while to digest it all, but a good read.

[Max O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

v good, lots of thoughts and open to interpretation

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, leaves you with many questions which may never have an answer

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing story

This is the story of someone who had lots of foresight and ambition and used it in a positive way to help his community , a very interesting read.

[Stephen Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, I think though a lot had to left unsaid of the story due to libel etc.

[Hugh HACKETT · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed portrait of the rise and fall of Sean Quinn. Doesn’t hold back on the madness that went on, but had enough nuance to highlight the original success of the Quinn group.