Mannok seeks injunction preventing Sean Quinn from trespassing on quarry

High Court proceedings aimed at preventing former billionaire Seán Quinn from trespassing on lands owned by the group of companies he set up were adjourned after the businessman failed to turn up in court last Friday.

In a letter emailed to the court, Mr Quinn said he was unable to attend due to the short notice of the proceedings but did offer an undertaking not to visit property owned by Mannok Quarries.

However, he said he required access to a certain roadway that connects a quarry in Co Cavan owned by the plaintiffs to a cement factory.

On Wednesday, Mannok Cement Limited and Mannok Build Ltd launched High Court proceedings against the group’s founder, Sean Quinn Snr.

Represented by Andrew Fitzpatrick SC and Michael Binchy BL, the firms allege that Mr Quinn is trespassing on a quarry owned by them.

The firms are seeking an injunction restraining Mr Quinn from trespassing on the Swanlinbar quarry. They say he has no entitlement to be on the site.

The companies claim that, on several occasions since late 2019, Mr Quinn has trespassed on their lands.

The most recent trespass, it is claimed occurred on May 8 last, when he was seen driving on its lands, in his E class Mercedes Benz, including at Swanlinbar Quarry.

The firms now want the High Court to grant them an injunction restraining Mr Quinn from trespassing on their lands.

In documents put before the court, the companies say the lands are active industrial sites, where heavy machinery is being operated, and Mr Quinn’s alleged presence amounts to a significant health and safety risk.

Only authorised people are allowed to be present on the site, it is claimed.

Mr Quinn has no right or interest in the lands, and has no defence to the claims against him, the firms allege.

The companies say they are not entirely certain what is the purpose of Mr Quinn’s alleged trespasses.

They believe his actions amount to “a misguided form of aggression in the form of defiance” aimed towards the company’s management.

The plaintiffs claim their lawyers wrote to Mr Quinn requesting that he cease trespassing on the lands.

The two companies are subsidiaries of Mannok Holdings DAC, which was formerly Quinn Industrial Holdings DAC/Quinn Group/Aventas Group and is part of the Mannok group, which specialises in the sale and supply of building products and packaging solutions.

The firm’s directors say they fear that, unless restrained by the court, Mr Quinn will continue to trespass where it is claimed he will pose a health and safety risk.

Mr Quinn, it is claimed, also trespassed on lands owned by the firms in Northern Ireland. In 2021 Mr Quinn gave an undertaking before a Belfast Court not to trespass on lands at Doon in Co Fermanagh.

In a sworn statement to the court, Mannok CEO Liam McCaffrey said that he and his management team have been the subject of “a long and well publicised campaign of intimidation, violence and serious threats.”

One of the firm’s directors Kevin Lunney was kidnapped and seriously assaulted.

Mr McCaffrey said, while Mr Quinn has “repeatedly condemned the violence against the management team, the defendant had said in a newspaper interview in 2021 that he wanted the directors of Mannock removed and that he (Mr Quinn) would do anything he could do in his power “to get those boys out”.

On Wednesday, the two firms secured permission from Ms Justice Siobhan Stack to serve short notice of the injunction proceedings on Mr Quinn at his home address at Greaghrahan, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.

The court made its order on an ex-parte basis, where only one side was represented in court.

The case returned before the court on Friday, before Mr Justice Alexander Owens, himself a Cavan man.

He was told by Mr Fitzpatrick that Mr Quinn was neither present nor represented in court.

The judge said he had received an email from Mr Quinn stating that he was unable to attend “due to the short notice” given.

‘Sceptical’

Mr Fitzpatrick said his clients were “sceptical” about the contents of Mr Quinn’s letter but were not seeking the injunction at this stage of the proceedings.

Mr Justice Owens agreed to adjourn the application to a date later this week.

In the letter, Mr Quinn, who apologised for not attending, said he was prepared to give an undertaking if he could access a road built by him 20 years ago that links Swanlinbar quarry to a cement factory.

The road was built on lands owned by parties including local farmers, who he said had leased it back to him.

He said the road was used by Coillte, local turf cutters, farmers and wind farm operators.

Mr Quinn said he required access for business reasons, as he has an interest “in limestone land” on the Swanlinbar side of the mountain.

He also required access to the road because he was “in discussions with investors” and local landowners regarding the building of a new wind farm on the mountain.

Mr Quinn said he did not accept certain claims made by Mannok, including that his presence amounted to a health and safety risk.

He said he knew the property like “the back of my hand”. The sites, he said, were closed and there were no moving vehicles.

Mr Quinn added that the case could be resolved without “further troubling the court” adding that he had abided with a previous undertaking given to a Belfast court not to enter on to lands owned by the plaintiffs in Northern Ireland.

He was happy to provide a undertaking not to visit sites owned by Mannok as long as his access to the roadway was not inhibited.