Seán Quinn

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Seán Quinn (Irish: Seán Ó Cuinn) is an Irish billionaire entrepreneur from Derrylin, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

He was born 5 December 1947,^[1] the son of a small farmer,^[2] and left school at 14 years of age.^[3]

The Sunday Times Rich List 2006 estimates his personal worth to be €2,941 million or £2,000 million, thereby making him the richest man in Ireland. ^[4] He is ranked second only to Hilary Weston (who qualifies through marriage to Galen Weston, Canada's second wealthiest man) and family with an estimated worth of £4,700 million. ^[5]

More recently he has been ranked by Forbes magazine's 2007 Rich List, again as the richest man in Ireland, in 177th place amongst the richest people in the world. ^[6]. His net worth as of February 2007 is estimated at $4.5 billion - or approximately £2.3 billion. (Conversion rate @ 09/02/07).^{[7] [8]}

In November 2005 the Quinn Group, which is privately owned by the Quinn family, was elsewhere estimated to be worth between €4 billion and €5 billion.^[9][10] The group is widely acknowledged as the largest and most profitable privately owned company in Ireland. ^[11][12] In 2006 the group made a pre-tax profit for the year of £430m (€632m).^[13]

Quinn owns a $24m Dassault Falcon 2000EX private jet and a twin-engined helicopter, which he operates out of Enniskillen's St. Angelo Airport.^[14]

He is married to Patricia and they have five children, Seán, Colette, Ciara, Aoife and Brenda.

Contents 1 Companies 2 Irish business 2.1 2006 expansion plans 3 Overseas business 4 Private life and recognition at home 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Companies

• Quinn Financial Services: motor, home and business insurance (Quinn-Direct), pensions and savings products. (Quinn-Life)- established in 1995
• Bupa Ireland: Health insurance
• Quinn Manufacturing: construction industry products - cement, concrete, blocks, rooftiles, pre-stressed flooring, general quarry (started on father's 23-acre farm in Derrylin in 1973 with a £100 loan), polystyrene and polyurethane thermal insulation products, glass, and, until June 2006 a 13% investment in a wind farm that was purchased for €35 million and sold for €69 million.
• Quinn Glass: container glass manufacturing; new production facility being built in Cheshire.
• Quinn Radiators: central heating radiators - business purchased from Barlo Group in 2004 for €84 million (including the largest domestic radiator plant in the world in Newport, Wales).^[15]
• Quinn Packaging: packaging for dairy industry
• Quinn Plastics: translucent and transparent plastic sheeting
• Quinn Hospitality: 9 hotels, including Slieve Russell in Ballyconnell, Buswells Dublin, the Prague Hilton, IBIS Prague, DeVere Belfry, the Crowne Plaza Cambridge, Holiday Inn Nottingham, the Hilton Sofia and the Sheraton Krakow.
• Quinn Leisure: Iveagh Fitness Club, Dublin, Slieve Russell Golf Club and Ciúin Fitness and Wellness Centre
• Quinn Public Houses: Cat & Cage, Quinns Drumcondra, Shamrock Lodge Finglas, Q-Bar O'Connell Bridge, The Barge Inn, Messrs Maguire (all Dublin, Ireland). Also, Quinns in Cambridge.

[edit] Irish business

In an interview with Ireland's Sunday Business Post, Seán Quinn attributed his initial success to the contacts he developed through the Gaelic Athletic Association. These contacts enabled him to build a company spanning both sides of the Irish border when, in 1973, he borrowed £100 and started extracting gravel from his family 23-acre farm, washing it and selling it to local builders.

The company was called Seán Quinn Quarries Ltd. From this came Quinn Cement, and the basis of his wealth. In recent years, however, Quinn has diversified with his Quinn Group playing a leading role in Ireland's hospitality industry.^[16] His centrepiece hotel remains the Slieve Russell Hotel in Ballyconnell, in rural west County Cavan. He is also a serious presence in Ireland's glass, radiator and plastics industries with Quinn Glass, based in Fermanagh, and Quinn Lite Pac, based in Longford. Today, the Seán Quinn Group employs over 1,500 people throughout Ireland.^[17]

The Quinn Financial Services business, founded in 1996, has been particularly successful in challenging the established insurance companies on the island, most especially through Quinn Direct. With its headquarters in Cavan, it made €123 million profit in the first 6 months of 2006, (up 38% on the previous year), on sales of €386 million between January and June 2006.^[18]

In January 2007 the Quinn Group Purchased Ireland's second biggest health insurance provider BUPA Ireland for €150 million in a deal that saved Bupa from leaving the Irish health insurance ^[19]

In the same month Seán Quinn increased his share holding in the Anglo-Irish Bank to approximately 5% for an equivalent value of €570 million - financed through the group's equity and through a deal with the Swiss based giant Credit Suisse.^[20]

[edit] 2006 expansion plans

Quinn Direct announced on August 31, 2006 to create over 900 new jobs at Cavan, Navan and Blanchardstown, County Dublin. Approximately 700 of these jobs will be in Navan and where the units European hub is to be based^[21].

[edit] Overseas business

Quinn has to date also expanded into the hospitality industry in the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Bulgaria and Poland.

The Group took control of the Prague Hilton, the largest 5-start hotel in Prague, in 2004. It paid €145 million for the 788-room Hilton and the Ibis Karlin. This property transaction is regarded as the largest recorded single asset transaction in the history of the Czech Republic.^{[citation needed]} The Prague Hilton is currently undergoing a €50 million renovation while his company recently gained control of the Hilton Hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria.^[22]

In 2005 Quinn Group added the The De Vere Belfry hotel and golf course in Britain to his company. Also in 2004 Quinn Direct insurance expanded into the UK motor and commercial insurance market. Quinn Direct Insurance sponsored the British Masters tournament there in May 2006.

[edit] Private life and recognition at home

Seán Quinn comes from a staunch Gaelic Athletic Association family in Fermanagh on the border with Cavan where he and his brother Peter played football for Teemore. Peter Quinn became a financial advisor and in 1990 he was elected President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Ireland's largest sporting and cultural organisation, in which role he served between 1991-1994. The brothers have a very close relationship with Peter playing a key role in the Quinn Group. Seán Quinn himself captained the Fermanagh team.^[23] The Quinn Group is also an important sponsor of Fermanagh GAA. Quinn's involvement in the Gaelic Athletic Association is, in the words of one commentator, 'a constant theme throughout the group' In the words of one associate, "The GAA forms a big part of Seán's life. Aside from that, he drinks the occasional jar in pubs in Ballyconnell and enjoys the odd game of poker.' ^[24]

His private life is closely guarded. His children are believed to be aged between 18 and 30. Three of them work in the family business while another two are still in full-time education. His son, Seán, lined out for the Fermanagh minor team. He rarely gives interviews but is far from being reclusive.He enjoys the simple things of life including the company of friends who knew him before he became successful.^[25] He lives with his wife and family in Ballyconnell, County Cavan, next to his landmark Slieve Russell Hotel and just down the road from his birthplace in Derrylin.

On 18 May 1999 Seán Quinn was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from NUI Maynooth.^[26] He also holds an Honorary Doctorate from Queens University Belfast.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Quinn Group official website
• Quinn-Direct British Masters 2006
• Quinn-Direct official website
• Quinn-Life official website