Seán Quinn appeared at the Commercial Court yesterday seeking permission to defend claims that he has some liability for €2.34 billion loaned to various Quinn companies by Anglo:

When the judge said the bank disputed whether he could appear, Mr Quinn said: “I don’t know, judge, the way I see it, Anglo joined me, I filed a defence and I want to stand over it.”

The judge said an interesting legal issue arose whether Mr Quinn could do so. The judge fixed Mr Quinn’s application for hearing on March 15th and directed the relevant legal documents be served at his address in Co Cavan. When Mr Quinn said he was “not big into emails”, the judge directed the documents could be served by ordinary post.

When the judge asked Mr Quinn how long he required to prepare for the hearing on his entitlement to defend, the latter said a week to 10 days would be adequate. “I’m a simple farmer’s son,” he said, to which the judge said: “I’m a simple man myself”.

In the distance, a chicken coughed.

Quinn seeks to stand over his defence (Irish Times)

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 FORMER BILLIONAIRE Seán Quinn said yesterday he was “shocked” that Government Ministers had “interfered” in court proceedings abroad where his family is trying to prevent properties worth hundreds of millions of euro being seized by the state-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo.

Mr Quinn made the comment in a statement issued after the Commercial Court in Dublin made an unprecedented €1.7 billion summary judgment order against him in favour of the bank.

A spokesman for Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed last night that a case being taken in Ukraine by the bank in relation to valuable property there was “referenced” by Mr Kenny during a meeting in September with Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Mr Quinn’s comment is also understood to be a reference to alleged representations by the Irish Embassy to Russia, where the Quinns also bought valuable commercial property using loans from Anglo.

The properties in question – which IBRC, formerly Anglo, claims were used as collateral for massive loans to the Quinn family – are worth €500 million.

Mmf.

Quinn says he is shocked State ‘interfered’ in his cases abroad (Irish Times)

(Photocall Ireland)