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E-mailThe gulf between old Ireland and new Ireland was also evident last week in the fight back by Seán Quinn and his workers to the appointment of provisional administrators from the Financial Regulator's office to their insurance business.
Seán Quinn normally shuns publicity. He has consistently refused to comment on his ill-judged construction of a 28% stake in Anglo Irish that helped bring the bank to its knees and helped sentence generations of Irish taxpayers to sort out the mess. No apologies and no explanation for that.
It is unfortunate that Quinn's interests and the interests of his workers have been confused as one. They have no independent representation as unions are not allowed in the Quinn businesses and the impression given is that the employer and employees' future are intertwined.
Quinn Insurance workers have every right to be angry at the threat to their jobs. However, their anger should not be directed at the Financial Regulator or even the government, who they perceive as unwilling to call off the Regulator.
Seán Quinn is the author of their misfortune. His reckless share purchases, described as "eye watering", are among the largest losses any individual has ever suffered in trading contracts for difference (CFDs). They were made in an era where light regulation was normal. If Ireland is ever to build a trustworthy reputation again, it is vital that we live up to high standards. Old Ireland didn't get that. New Ireland does.
The workers at Quinn Insurance and the communities they support depend on their employment to survive. They are right to make as much noise as they can to preserve their positions. It is a pity that Quinn and his team have wasted so much time in the last 10 days criticising the Financial Regulator's motives rather than addressing his concerns.
The offer of a lifeline to Quinn Insurance by the nationalised Anglo Irish Bank last Thursday is certainly in the interests of Seán Quinn who could continue to own and perhaps run the business. The question is whether the move, promising a €700m cash injection, is in the best interests of Irish taxpayers, Quinn policy holders and Quinn employees.
Seán Quinn's risk-taking thus far has jeopardised the interests of all three groups. While his profits have always been private, his behaviour means his debt may yet be a matter for the general public. In the absence of a last-minute deal, it will be up to the High Court tomorrow to decide if the maintenance of jobs in the border region and the survival of Quinn Insurance are compatible.
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The regulator is correct to flag any issues he has with the books of Quinn Insurance but tomorrow's court decision will tell whether the regulator got it right or if he just needs to give Quinn Insurance time to re-organise it's finances at the back end of the worst recession since the second World War (not to mention the worst weather conditions, such as the floods and big freeze, to hit the UK and Ireland over the previous 6 months which it came out of making €1 million a day during March). Also, Quinn Insurance has never dropped below 100% solvency ratios but VHI is consistently breaching it's solvency requirements and given time to resolve it. Is it one set of rules for one company and another set of rules for the other company?
On the completely separate issue of Sean Quinn's losses on his shares in Anglo Irish Bank; the profits of any company need to be put somewhere, no? Is there a person in the country (or on the planet?!) who can honestly say they saw the banking crisis coming? Before this banking crisis evolved (and Sean Quinn was not a contributor to this, he is one of it's biggest losers) everyone would have said that buying shares in an Irish Bank was a very prudent thing to do?
Sean Quinn did not put any of the 5,500 jobs in the Quinn Group at risk, there was not 1 single redundancy in the Group during the recession when an easy option may have been to cut 1,000 to 1,500 jobs to increase profits?
Back at the end of 2006 nobody was saying that Sean Quinn was not "qualified to be let near an insurance company" when he had just created a homegrown Irish insurance company from scratch with nearly 3,000 jobs in Ireland which exported financial services to the UK bringing hundreds of millions of euro into the Irish economy.
Final point I wish to add is that Brian Cowen was to place a 1% levy on CFDs in the 2006 Financial bill but left it out at the last minute thus validating it is a legitimate method for stock market speculation but now look, Cowen is Taoiseach!
Sean Quinn has spent the last 36 years taking on the nay sayers and winning. Lets hope he'll have his day tomorrow.